X-Men:A New Beginning
by Bruce
Summary: After the death of three X-Men, The team tries to recruit some new Members, and gets more than it bargained for. R For Adult Language/Situations
1. New Students

Disclaimer: This Is a work of Fanfiction. The story is copyrighted to me, Michael Shearon. The Characters of Jean Grey Summers, Professor Xavier, Warren, and other X-men characters and Marvel Comics locations are all copyrighted to the Marvel Comics Group. The characters of Amy McAffey and Geneva LeShann are the property of Ruth Gabbert, used with permission. Diane Fischer also used with permission, property of Kirsten Hofstad. All other original characters mentioned here are mine. 

Jean Grey Summers enjoyed a quiet afternoon at the X-mansion. Things had been quiet lately. The professor had left for the Shi'ar home world almost a month ago, since both the Earth, and the Shi'ar empire seemed to be in periods of peace.  Hank was at the Avengers' mansion, after finding the cure for the dreaded Legacy Virus. Mutants worldwide were now being treated, generally at an inexpensive fee, due to the dreadful effects it had on their powers. The first batch of the cure had healed a good 75% of those who had been treated with it, and varieties were being made to treat the rest. 

Everyone but Geneva had gone out for a day off. Well… Almost. Scott and Warren had been sent to Coney Island, to look into a young Telepath that Cerebro had spotted there. The young girl didn't go out as often during the daylight once her wings had sprouted. The pair walked down the hallway, chatting amiably. Geneva had only recently come to the school, at the request of professor Xavier. Her powers were intriguing. She was a rarity in the mutant world… a Healer. One who could use her power to mend the wounds of others. She also possessed a medium sized pair of wings, which were not quite strong enough to let her fly. 

"So how are you enjoying things here, Geneva?" Jean asked with a smile, as the two walked towards the rec room. 

"Oh, I Love it here, Ms. Jean... Everyone's so nice. And Mr. Warren offered to teach me how to fly... Once my wings get strong enough, that is," she responded with a shy smile of her own. The girl, even without the wings, fell very well into the Cute category. Although she seemed to be trying to counter her Angelic Visage by favoring dark, if not black clothes. She had suggested they break the boredom by going to see if there was anything good on TV.  She had also taken to admiring Mr. Warren as something of a Role model. Perhaps it was because e, too, knew what it was like to have Wings in a world where obvious signs of Mutation were very bad things. The pair arrived at the Rec room, still chatting Amiably. 

Geneva's breath caught in her throat, though, once the television came on. There, in all his Horror, was Apocalypse, Getting battered by Scott's Optic blasts, while he held Scott in one massive hand. He was looking like he had been battling for quite some time. But, the newsfeed caused Jean's blod to freeze in her veins... Almost casually... Apocalypse moved his thumb up, and snapped Scott's neck like a twig. Jean hadn't yet had time to sit down before this happened. She sank to her knees, staring in horror, as she also saw the felled bodies of Bishop, and Psylocke. Warren was crawling along the ground, just to get himself out of Harm's way… one of his legs was lying at an Odd angle. How? How had this happened? Without her sensing it, at ALL! Her eyes were focused on Scott, whose eyes continued to fire out their crimson beam of concussive force. These Post-mortem blasts tore into Apocalypse, causing him to lose the strength he needed to stay at that size… he slowly shrank, while he made his escape. But that wasn't on Jean's mind… as the news footage showed The crimson beam fade out, and Scott just lay there. Dead… Her husband was dead. And there wasn't anything she could do about it. Geneva, still stunned to silence,  put an arm around Jean's shoulders as the older of the two collapsed into nearly hysterical sobs.

The reporter continued to relate the story of the attack on the pier by the larger than life mutant would-be Dictator. She was unaware that her story had just destroyed the lives of one of her viewers.

*Elsewhere, and a few weeks later.*

Bruce awakened with a start. This wasn't odd, because his history teacher had just yelled at him. He shook himself awake, with a 'Huh?' as he tried to come out of the boredom-induced haze. "How Nice of you to JOIN us, Mr. Jackson. Maybe now you can answer my question about where the Star Spangled banner… Our national anthem, in case you forgot, Mr. Jackson…" Bruce frowned. He knew he wasn't the brightest kid in the world, but he hated having it slapped in his face like that. "Was written." However, Bruce was ready for this one, despite being recently awakened.

"The Bombing of Fort McHenry, by Francis Scott Key, while he wuz a prisoner on a British boat." He smirked. As many times as his friend John had gone off about history, it was actually the only subject Bruce was doing well in. 

The teacher scowled a little, and the class chuckled. They loved it when even Bruce stopped that teacher cold. Bruce couldn't help but think about Pink Floyd when he walked into this class. 

-When We grew up and went to school, there were certain teachers who would hurt children Any way they could.-

The teacher continued his lesson, generally regarding the class with cold eyes, and generally talking to them as if they were all idiots.

-By pouring their Derision, upon everything we did. Exposing every weakness, no matter how carefully hidden by the Kid.-

Bruce frowned more, as the teacher embarrassed one of the cheerleaders for getting a question wrong. There are few people that Bruce would wish to see on the receiving end of something unfortunate, and Publicly. This was one of them.

-But in our town it was well known when they got home at night, their Fat, Psychopathic wives, would THRASH THEM within inches of their lives!-

The song kept playing in his mind, as he half listened, until the class bell rang. He got up, singing the song softly to himself.

-We don't need no Education... We don't need no thought control.-

The teacher looked up, regarding Bruce coolly. 

-No Dark Sarcasm In the Classroom... Teacher, leave them Kids alone...-

The heavy bass line was still thrumming in his head as his eyes met the teachers. He hated Bruce, because Bruce could Not be intimidated. His spirit couldn't be broken. 

"HEY! Teacher! Leave them Kids alone!" He walked out the door, hands in his pockets, his books thrown across his back. "All in all, you're just a... 'Nother Brick in the Wall." He made his way to his locker, and got his skateboard out. Another day over, and time to get in some serious boarding. He smirked again, when the can that had just been thrown at his head missed entirely. "Yo, Brad, might wanna aim betta than that, at tha game… they might replace ya as star quarterback."

The Jock in question, surrounded by his Team-mates, all scowled at him. "I don't take advice from Muties."

Bruce shrugged. Yes, He's a Mutant. One of those lucky numbers born with an additional gift from nature. A little Genetic tweak that sets him apart from most other people. It's one of the reasons most people gave him a wide berth. The Mutant-Rights act had recently been passed, making for a lot of Anti-mutant sentiment to be spread around the country. "Let's not ferget I'm also Dirt poor. Somebody as rich as you ain't got nuthin' to learn from me." He smiled and dropped his board to the sidewalk. With a quick push, he was off, but not before he got  wind of all the insults being tossed his way. He was stopped when Rachel stepped into his path… "Yo, Rach'. 'Sup?" She was a pretty Brunette. She was dressed stylishly, unlike Bruce, whose clothes were a throwback to the early 90s grunge fashion. Regarding his looks, he was a boyishly handsome 18 year old, Senior in high School. What made him stand out from most was his propensity for designing his clothing with clovers, and his Shockingly platinum blonde hair. It was nearly white, but it was completely natural.  He brushed back a few strands that had gotten into his eyes, "Is dat game a home or away, this week?" He was asking, because she was the cheerleader that Mr. Henderson had embarrassed. He was also asking, because he was helping her with her history, in exchange for her helping him with his math.

"Home... So we meet at my house Thursday." With a smile. It quickly faded, when Brad walked up, "Hello... Brad." A bit of Disgust was in her voice. Her face showed it even more when he tried to put his arm around her. "I've gotta go… see you tomorrow night, Bruce." And she quickly made an exit. Bruce thought he saw her wiping her eyes... But what he heard next shook that out of his mind. "Now, Mutie… We're gonna go have a little talk. I can't have people showin' me up in Gym, now Can I?" Bruce started to get a little worried, when Two linebackers grabbed him roughly by the shoulders... He tried to struggle, but their grip was very strong. "And now, yer movin' in on my girl. Shouldn't the captain of the football team be dating the head cheerleader? What would she want with Mutie trash like you." Bruce looked around quickly… no one was around. He was completely alone with these guys.

"She's my Tutor! She ain't my girlfriend! But in case you haven't noticed, the girl thinks yer slime! She hates being around you!" That's it, Bruce, he thought, make noise, so someone looks in this direction… His noises were silenced, however, when Brad's fist impacted with his lean stomach. The wind left his lungs in a rush, and his world exploded into painful blackness as something collided with the back of his head. 

***Many miles away, on a large plantation in Alabama***

The 'Family' huddled together, in their mud and straw floored pen. There was Terry… A large, Bestial man, of 8 feet in height, and tremendous strength. He wore little more than a pair of crudely constructed pants, and a collar with a blinking light over his wind-pipe. Beside him shivering, as she curled against his fur, was Amy, a green-skinned girl, of incredible beauty. Her power was an affinity for plants. She wasn't wearing a collar, but there was no threat of her Running. Jason sat curled with his knees against his chest. He had short, brown hair, a lean face, and was dressed in the nondescript Grey rags and blinking Collar of the rest of the workers in the concentration camp. His power, of Corrosive energy blasts, earned him the nickname 'Acid' around the camp. The last person in the pen was Tamra... a fire-haired girl with powers to match. She was also a talented martial artist, having earned a Black-belt before being imprisoned. Her hard eyes stared out the door to their pen. "We can't stay here like this."

Amy's slightly muffled voice came from Terry's fur, "And what do you suggest we DO, Tamra? If any of us leave, they'll Kill the rest of us… You all have those collars on, and those'll blow up as soon as you leave the camp… and If I leave, they'll just find me, and throw me into the forest while they're chopping wood... And this time they might not take me out." Amy's powers gave her Empathy towards plants. They always punished her by sending her into the thickets while they were cutting wood. She never lasted 10 minutes before collapsing. Terry, because of his strength, was always assigned to the woods. He had brought her back to the pen tonight, as he always did. "None of us can make it out of here... And It's mainly because of Daniel!"

Terry's voice came like a growl, "Daniel only does what he does, because if He didn't, we'd all be dead anyway. Though I agree... None of them are smart enough to come up with the containment plans they've got currently." And he was right. This group of Mutants lived with approximately 60 others, with all varieties of powers except only telepathy. Daniel somehow managed to find them mutants every once in a while that fit their mold. 'They' Were the Friends of Humanity. The Nazi-esque organization that believed Mutants had two purposes: Slave Labor, and target practice. There was still the occaisional random shooting, but generally, they kept the mutants alive, to work their plantation. "He's also said that it's close to time for his plan to come to pass."

Jason looked up, "Ya mean it? Ya mean we can get out of here?" The boy almost shouted, but a quick movement of Terry's Paw silenced him.Jason was the youngest of the group, and was still clinging to his optimism. He hadn't been there more than a couple of months. Kidnapped from a High-school, just 2 weeks after his powers publicly raged out of control, nearly destroying half the school building before he got them under control. He was around 16 years old, and had an inner fire that everyone except their captors loved about him. 

"Quiet! I hear something…" despite the collar, the physiological changes in Terry had given him sharp hearing. He detected the sound of footsteps dragging someone along. The door to their pen was slammed open, and an 18 year old male was tossed in… His face and arms were covered with tattoos. The ones on his arms were done so that No matter how you looked at his arms, they said 'Mutie scum' and he even sported a large 'M' over one of his eyes. Daniel had been there longer than any other mutant at the plantation. His genius was indescribable. His eyes were mutated so that he had an almost 270 degree view. His genius also gave him complete retention of everything he saw and heard.  He ran the computers at the plantation, since his skills weren't suited to manual labor.

The guard that tossed him in spat in their direction, "Stay down, Or yer all dead." He added a Kick to Daniel's stomach, just for good measure. "I wish the Boss said we didn't need you, Mutie slime. Just keep them muties comin' in. Or we'll send you to the fields…" the guard left, locking the gate back. Daniel sat up, wiping the blood from his lip. His entirely black eyes regarded the 'Family' with a smirk. "2 weeks. It shouldn't be more than 2 weeks before it happens... Cyclops' death really put a cramp in my plans... But now, we're almost ready. There's a promising new student about to be recruited." Daniel had been working secretly to get the X-men to notice their little plantation. And now, it seemed, to the excitement of the small group of friends called the 'family', it seemed like his efforts had paid off.

*Back at the X-mansion*

Jean had existed somewhat in a daze since Scott's death… she had continued on, as he would have wanted. Logan had adjusted sooner than any others… Ororo was considering leaving, at least for a while… Rogue and Gambit both had taken a hiatus from the mansion for a while. And Warren had agreed to stay on long enough to teach Geneva how to fly… but the death of Scott, Betsy, and Bishop had rocked everyone. She especially dreaded the professor's reaction, when he returned. He knew, but to see the professor actually at his Grave site would be crushing indeed. She expected him back within the week. Travel from Shi'ar was a long one. She sat in the room with Cerebro, just looking at the device… she Idly put it on, just to give herself something to do… then was shocked back to the real world, as she picked up a distress signal that was almost right under their noses, so to speak. A young mutant, a few miles away, was in serious danger. She quickly broadcast, {Logan, take Geneva, and go to Salem Center. Cerebro is giving you directions... Cerebro has picked up a mutant, and he's in trouble!} 

She sat back, typing up driving directions. Salem Center wasn't far. The coordinates suggested the old storefront that had been empty for almost a year. She'd seen it often when she went out shopping. She'd always had a bad feeling about it. Now, it appears that her bad feeling is Justified. What confused her was... This was a fairly strong mutant signature. Information she was getting on him indicated he lived pretty much next door to them for quite a while. Why hadn't they spotted him sooner?

===

Bruce came to, feeling a pain in his wrists. He knew he was upright… He was hanging by his wrists from a couple of chains. ; he still hadn't opened his eyes... But he made the mistake of Groaning. His noise was answered by something cold and metal smashing into his face. "Looks like the mutant finally woke up on us. I think we oughta give him a minute or two, so he can see what we got planned." Bruce's face looked like hamburger. Bruises and cuts covered his bare chest and stomach. Some were from impact. Some were more purposeful. He'd been tortured for 4 hours. His eyes cracked open. Blood stung his eyes, and he tasted it from his nose and lips. His left cheek was tingling still, after the impact. He saw the gun in Brad's hand. "You're tougher than I thought, Mutie. The last one we brought here couldn't take half what you did. You probably could do better than me on the football team."

"You're really sick, you know that? So damn worried about your position on the team, when you'll never have to work a day in you li-UMPH!" Another blow to the stomach robbed Bruce of his breath for a few seconds. He felt he'd vomit, if he hadn't already done so. Brad just chuckled, and rubbed his knuckles. Two of his team-mates were standing nearby, just watching with evil looks on their faces. Bruce coughed for a minute, then managed to speak again, "Your Dad owns 5 corporate office buildings in New York City... What do you need a Football scholarship for?" Another blow, This time to the right side of his face.

"Shut up, trash. Freaks like you don't BELONG with the normal people. Mutants are what's wrong with the world today… So when I Kill you, I'll be doing the world a favor." Brad started tracing one of the tracks of blood on Bruce's face with the pistol. "So what IS it you do, exactly? Super reflexes or something? Super speed?" 

"So... you've been... calling me... A Mutant... All this time..." Bruce's breath finally returning, "And you don't even have any Proof?!" His anger was well faked. Bruce knew no one had ever seen him use his power, especially not someone like Brad. It was just a rumor going around school. He was using this ploy to regain some of his strength... All he needed... Was just enough... There... he felt it. "What if you're wrong? What if it turns out I'm NOT a mutant, and you murdered me in cold blood. In case you and your boys ain't looked, you got my blood All over your hands, and clothes!"

Brad actually seemed like he hadn't taken that into consideration. "But... Nobody could run faster and throw farther than me... Only a Mutant could..." that seemed to make up his mind... Though the look in his eyes said otherwise. Bruce had succeeded in faking Brad out, Making him Second guess.  It was buying him all the time he needed… He could feel his power slowly growing.  He was battered, bruised, and bleeding, but he had them right where he wanted them. Brad's Goon friends were looking at each other worriedly.

"And they say I'm stupid... You really should find out what Mutants do before you try an' do this to 'em." God, he hurt… but he felt like he could move. The gun whipped up, and pointed at his face… Bruce knew he only had one chance to try this.

"Stupid mutie… just tryin' to confuse us, with those Mind tricks. It won't work. I'll shoot you before you can finish the job."

Bruce's eyes closed. He stretched out, feeling his energy moving through the air.  He felt the edges of the pistol, and found the barrel. Wow… Brad's nervous. The gun is shaking... Good. He carefully reached down the barrel until he found the bullet. A moment of infusing it with energy, and the job was done. The barrel was now misaligned, and the bullet molecularly bonded with the inside of the chamber. You see, Bruce Actually WAS a mutant. With An energy field that could turn inanimate objects intangible for a short while. When Brad pulled the trigger, the gun backfired, completely removing Brad's thumb, and covering his arm with shrapnel, and burns. He collapsed to his knees, screaming in pain, as Bruce calmly pulled his arms through the restraints as if they were nothing but air.

The two thugs just blinked, then charged the young mutant. However, Bruce, now that he was both Mad, and free, was ready for them. He grabbed a pipe from a wall, while 'phasing' it in two places. E quickly brought his new club around into the stomach of a Linebacker. "Not so tough when I'm lookin' are ya!?" He finished his attacker by bringing his elbow down onto the back of the thug's head. He fell unconscious. The other one, stepped back, and began circling. Bruce dropped into a boxing stance, his feet beginning to dance and weave. In his current state of dress, it was clear that Bruce was not at all to be trifled with. His guard was up, his muscles tensed. Definition was cut all through his body. And, apparently, he had the strength to back it up. But he was also hurt. Bad hurt. All over his body were cuts and bruises. The opponent was easily twice Bruce's size, and a Football player at that. So he was used to getting hit.

They kept up their close watch of each other, each waiting for a decent opening. Then, a blow sounded, and the thug's eyes glazed over. He slumped down, revealing a 5'3'', Very stocky individual behind him. "Sorry fer crashin' yer party, Mohammad Ali..." a gruff voice… probably from the Stogie hanging out of the man's mouth.

"Mr. Logan! We've gotta get out of here!" came a girl's voice from the front room. Bruce was rather confused… but then again, that was a normal thing for him. The girl came in and Bruce blinked...

"I knew they roughed me up… but I didn't expect to see an angel..." this earned him an almost cute glare from the girl.

"I'm Geneva. NOT an angel. Now, you come with us… It looks like there were some friends of his on their way over to join the fun. We've gotta get out of here Now." She grabbed his arm and dragged him along, as Logan followed them, chuckling to himself. He was helped into the back of a large van, where the severity of his beating finally took effect... Bruce quickly lost consciousness.

Bruce awakened to the sounds of machines beeping around him. A groan brought footsteps to his side, "About time you woke up. I was starting to worry. I blasted you a couple of times, but you still wouldn't wake up." The voice was female, and sounded close to his age, but a little younger. "So how're you feeling?" Another groan from Bruce elicited a giggle from the girl. "I could guess that... Most people would be in a Coma, after taking the beating you took."

"I feel like A truck ran over me, then fergot what it was doin', so it backed up..." He sat up, rubbing the eyes he hadn't yet opened. They felt swollen. This isn't the first time Bruce had been beaten up. First time he'd been beaten up like THIS… but… He didn't feel as bad as he thought he should.

"HEY! Lay back down! I did as much as I could for you, but you still need to lie down." He felt a small hand urging him back onto his back… then those hands crossed his eyes. He felt a couple of warm drops of liquid drop into his eyes… a warmth spread through them, as the throbbing stopped. He tentatively opened his eyes, discovering that he could... 

"Whoa... What was that stuff?" as he looked around the room. His eyes slowly adjusted to the light. A giggle brought his eyes over to Geneva… The girl from the abandoned store... "And where am I?" The room looked like something out of a Science fiction movie. 

"You're safe..." Geneva told him. She didn't know how much she could trust him with... "Don't worry. And, for your first question, It was something to distract you from me blasting you again." She giggled again, at the look he gave her. It was somewhere between, "Huh?" and "Are you Nuts?" She couldn't think of a better term to use for her talent. In addition to those Angelic wings, she had the ability to heal minor wounds. She couldn't heal the cracked rib he has, but the bruises and such he came down here with were significantly reduced, thanks to her help. He still had a couple of Nasty shiners on both eyes, but he could look around. 

"But... All my bruises and stuff are a lot better... What did you blast me WITH?" sitting up and looking at his arms, and exposed chest. Well… mostly exposed. His body was wrapped tightly with bandages.  His legs had been spared from violence, since they weren't much of a target. However, his chest and stomach took doses of her talent any time she could manage one. Her observation of the patient was interrupted, however, when a short girl with extremely long hair walked into the room. 

"Geneva is a healer. She's been working on your bruises all night. It's almost Morning, girl, you need to get some sleep." Diane commented. The first part was to the boy that was still inclined on the bed. He raised himself to his elbows and looked between them. "Hi... I'm Diane. Welcome to Xavier's School for the Gifted. What's your story?"

Geneva frowned a bit. Diane was such a flirt. There the boy was on the table recovering from the beating of his life, and she was FLIRTING with him. Her feathers ruffled a bit, earning a surprised look from Geneva towards her wings. She didn't think she'd ever get used to having them. When Bruce spoke up, her attention was brought back to him.

"I'm Bruce... I was gettin' Beaten up, then was brought here." The confused look showed he still wasn't sure where HERE was. But then, a look of recognition dawned on his face, "Waitaminute... Did you say Xavier's? I live right down the road from here! Whew... I know were I am now." He laid back on the bed, stretching a little, and winced. His arms came back down, and he hugged his chest lightly, "Ow..."

Geneva frowned again, then moved to his side, "I should've told you. You've got three cracked ribs, so you shouldn't stretch too much." Her hand moved to his ribs, and a quick warmth and tingle spread across his chest... the pain was instantly taken away. Bruce relaxed again, and was soon asleep. Diane and Geneva looked at each other. "This guy's a little odd."

"Odd, yes. But Cute." Diane said with a little grin. Geneva let out a sigh, and rolled her eyes.

***The Plantation***

Work began as early as it did every morning. The workers were called out of their pens, the smaller ones dragged out roughly by their clothing or hair. However the Guards doing so were quickly knocked aside by the overseers, "How do you expect 'em to work with you damned fools Tossin' 'em like that? You idjits  are too busy tryin' ta get rid of mutants ta see the work thay kin do." Soon, all 60 mutants were lined up to receive their tasks. Terry, and five other mutants gifted with super strength were assigned to land-clearing duties like always. 20 more mutants were assigned to the gardens, which occupied almost 10 acres in and of themselves. Amy and Jason were assigned here.  Daniel, as usual, was dragged towards the plantation house, to begin his computer work. The remainder of the mutants was assigned to weapon maintainance and construction duties around the plantation. None of it was easy work, with the possible exception of Daniel. 

In the fields, Amy was doing her usual duties of making all plants grow larger and stronger. She always did her job well. It was easy. She plucked ripe berries and plants of all sorts, while her power brought about the crop. She was just finishing a bush of blueberries, when her hair was grabbed. She let out a yelp of pain, as she was dragged through the rows, and into the corn -fields, she was tossed to the ground, her slim fingers going to her head to cover the pained areas.  She fought back the tears and looked up to see one of the newer guards standing over her with a scowl. His words made her breath catch in her throat.

"Fer a Mutie, you're pretty cute, bitch." His hand was on his side-arm, resting at his hip. He unzipped his dirty jeans, "Yer my slave, fer now, Mutie. Take it out."

She sat there paralyzed. This was the third time someone had tried to make her do something like this. They often succeeded with the 0other girls around the plantation. She wasn't strong like Tamra anymore. She couldn't fight him off. But she wasn't going to do it FOR him. Because... frankly... She couldn't. He reached out and yanked an ear of corn off the stalk. Amy yelped again, and clutched her side.

"I asked around, why you didn't wear a collar... Turns out yer power over plants makes you real easy to control... Just hurt one, and you feel it too. Now, you sit up and Suck it, or I start picking Co-AUGH!" His scream was one of pain, as a milky white beam of energy struck him Directly in the foot, and moved up to his crotch. Amy jumped back, recognizing it. There was Jason, rubbing at his eyes as if he had dust in them. The guardsman was rolling around in pain. It was easy to see why. Jason had been assigned to use his corrosive energy beams to dig irrigation trenches. One of the fastest, neatest ways to do it. He looked up, as the guardsman who was watching him came over to see what the commotion was.

"I had dirt in my eyes, so I wiped at it, while blasting straight. There wasn't supposed to be anyone in this row… wasn't he assigned to watch the fruit areas?" his voice sounding innocent, but the wink he shot Amy told that he knew exactly what he was doing.

Jason's guard looked at Amy, then looked at the offending guard, now holding his smoking and burning leg through melting pants, while screaming. "You sick Fuck! You were tryin' ta screw a Mutie?! Have you gone NUTS?" the newcomer to the scene swiftly kicked the offender in the Gut. "And she ain't supposed to be in the corn field Period! She can't harvest anything here!" a light shove to Amy, "Get back to your area, Mutie, before I send you wood-cutting." The guard got a couple more of his fellow Friends of Humanity members to carry the guard up to the house to be tended. He'd probably never come out to the fields again. 

After a minute or so, Jason was alone with Amy. The 16 year old looked at her, "Are you okay? I didn't hit ya or anything, did I?" he was silenced by a tight hug, and a whispered, 'Thank you!' from Amy.  He hugged her back, tightly, and said, "Any time, Amy. You're one of the Family... We watch out for our own. Just hang in there. Daniel says it's only a matter of time now. A couple more weeks, tops."

The two held each other in Silence until the guards came and separated them back to their appointed tasks.

Elsewhere on the plantation, Tamra was hard at work, with her Collar still on. She was still arguably one of the strongest women here, when it came down to physical strength. She was also the most powerful: a Pyrokinetic of the highest order. Creating and projecting flames was as simple as breathing to her. While they had most mutants sue their powers to plow up rows, No one trusted Tamra without her powers, and five guards with guns trained on her from a safe distance.

The hoe in her hand rang down as it struck the hard soil and rocks. The guard watching her knew not to get closer to her than he was right now. No matter what was in her hands, it was a deadly weapon. A testament of this was when a new guard had tried to force himself on her. It was something all girls at the plantation had to worry about. Except Tamra. The last time someone had tried, Tamra had simply brought both feet together, and kicked him forcefully in the stomach. Then another shove from her legs brought him over her head, and there she held him, pants around his ankles, until his comrades could take him and... deal with him.

Now, the guard that watched her tried to hide the fear in his face. The fear that if she really wanted him dead badly enough, he doubted there was anything he could do about it. The cold glare burning in her eyes with fire unrelated to her powers told him so. She kept tilling the soil, doing her work as quickly as she was allowed. Now, there were tasks she could do faster, and better. But they kept her in places like this to keep her from getting stronger than she already was. She was patient. Daniel's plan was close to fruition. She would be free soon enough.

And then, her captors would know the meaning of Fear and pain, and see how closely they came together. She just imagined that every row she was made to plow was a Grave of still another of the guards that watched her like a Sparrow, watching for a hawk. With enough of them, they might stand a chance, but one frightened little Bird like this one would be swatted down before he even brought his claws to bear. Still the hoe rang. Soon. Very soon.

Inside the plantation house three men stood beside a door, with headphones on. They were mainly to block out the noise blaring through the door. It sounded like there were 50 different radio and television programs going on at once. That was a conservative estimate. Inside was Daniel's room. A room like this didn't stretch his mutant Genius at all. He had a 20 foot squared wall dominated by screens of various sizes and shapes. Each screen was tuned to a different channel from as various and sundry locations across the country. Behind him, and scattered throughout the medium sized room, were radios boosted through Daniel's technical mastery. They were each pulling in a specific radio station from across the country. To his right there was a computer He was using to monitor Chat sites. He was currently running close to 70 windows. The keyboard was so worn from Daniel's quick typing that it was indiscernible which key was which. But he already had the keyboard memorized, so typing at it out of the corner of his eye while he watched the screens and listened to the radios would be enough to drive most people crazy. This was a regular day for Daniel. 

However, hidden in his mutant monitoring was a connection to Xavier's Mansion. They had him.  Excellent. It would be very soon now. But the boy was in rough shape. He needed some time to recover, and train. But Someone like Bruce was just what the mutants of the plantation were waiting for.

***Back at the mansion***

Jean was in the formal sitting room of the mansion, with an attractive woman in her mid thirties. She was short, and blonde, of a shade that matched Bruce's perfectly. She was Mary Jackson, his mother. "My son was beaten up last night. Abducted after school, by the Football team. They've been giving him trouble for a long time. Since Junior year. There was a rumor going around he was a mutant... But No one could prove it. Now, he's probably going to have to change schools. Putting two members of the first string of the Football team in the hospital isn't going to make him any more popular. The good news is, a girl from one of his classes is going public about the Truth." 

What she was referring to was when Brad Wilson, Promising young QB, was taken to the hospital on the nightly news, he shouted out that Bruce Jackson had been the one to do this to him. However, the morning news showed Rachel Lee, captain of the Cheerleaders had been coerced by Brad into detaining the occasional mutants until Brad and two of his friends could surround them, and take them away. They all disappeared soon after. It seemed Mr. Wilson was going to get his now.

"We can offer you something of a solution to that, Ms. Jackson. We brought Bruce here to tend to his injuries, nothing more. But, with your permission we can arrange for his schooling to be transferred here. Not only can we give him an education that ranks in the top 10 percentile, we can also teach him how to better blend in, and use his gifts in ways to better himself, and all those around him." Jean was trying hard not to sound like a pamphlet, but Bruce intrigued her. She had spoken to him once that morning, after relieving Geneva from the Med-Bay. He reminded her of the other 'phaser' she knew. Kitty was due in any day, and those two would probably end up instant friends. 

"Mrs. Summers. I won't pretend to be more than I am. I'm not a wealthy woman. I can't possibly afford to send my son to a school like this. And I'm not interested in Charity." Bruce's Mom was a proud woman, who worked hard. She didn't take any hand-outs from Anyone.

Jean was rescued at that moment, by Warren, blanketed by a holographic inducer, to make him look normal. Walking beside him was an un-covered Geneva, Her wings behind her like a feathered cape. Jean smiled at them, "Geneva, there, is a recent addition to our student body.  She's taking advantage of some financial aid. We have a few student aid programs that Bruce is applicable for. They should sufficiently cover his tuition, and any expenses he has here. Plus, he can still live at home, or here at the dorms if you feel his safety is in question."

"I do. Some people take football a little too seriously. About safety... how is your security here? If they'll do something like this to my son when they just THINK he's a mutant… they're surely not going to slack off when they Know he's one." The woman commented, a bit worriedly. Jean knew that this woman wanted the best for her son. She hoped that being at a place like this was it.

A soothing voice came from just outside. "Ms. Jackson. The Security at my school is among the best of Any school in the Nation. Due to the... Nature of most of my students, I have taken extra steps to ensure their safety." A man who would normally be 6 feet tall, were he not confined to a wheelchair, made his way into the room. He was bald, and not physically impressive, but still, he had an air of serenity and authority about him that even Mary had to acknowledge. "Allow me to introduce myself. I am Charles Xavier. I am the headmaster, and the proprietor of this school." The woman shook hands with him. Her face showed that she felt something in him. She felt she could trust him. Jean was familiar with the feeling.

"Are you SURE... That this isn't charity... I've raised my boy not to depend on anyone. We don't take handouts. We work for what we get." Her face set a bit. Jean knew the mentality.

"No handouts. A number of former students have set up funds for new students. Your son is just the type of person These funds have been set up for. It's not charity to take advantage of what's already there. Will you allow your son to study here with us? We can begin the paper-work portion immediately..." The professor's words were just what Ms. Jackson needed to here… She agreed, and soon Jean was smiling to herself, as Bruce officially became a Student at Xavier's school for the gifted.

***At a Diner, Outside Mobile***

"Hey, scarface, you got the money to pay fer all this food?" the rather obese waitress looked more like she was upset that this much food had been taken from her available stockpiles. The man at the counter slapped down a few bills that would cover the amount. He kept eating his cheeseburger. It had been the first thing he'd eaten in three days. He had a large plate of fries and a slice of apple pie, and two glasses of coke beside him. A large backpack and a guitar case sat beside him on the floor. H wore a denim vest that was covered in pockets and dust, and had obviously seen better days. The man was far from clean, and had the looks of a wanderer. The origin of his nickname came from the deep, ugly scar that ran down his face, from just over his left eyebrow, to his right cheekbone. He was lean, but had a look of strength to him. The cowboy hat he wore was pushed back onto the back of his head to keep it out of his way as he ate. 

As he ate, he was listening to a pair of men at a nearby booth. "Did ya hear about Johnson this morning? He tried ta bag that green-skinned Mutie in the corn fields… That new kid almost melted his foot off! I tell you, that girl has the luck of the Irish." The tones were hushed, but not enough for the stranger to miss what they were talking about.

"Yeah... His own dang fault fer tryin' ta get with one'a THEM. But if it weren't fer that green skin, I might've tried a few times myself. That girl we just put makin' the clothes… the one with four arms? She didn't put up much of a fight. After a few smacks, that is." Lewd chuckles from the two sent shivers down the stranger's back. He quickly ate the rest of his food, and made his way outside. He had been listening these two regale each other with their exploits in some sort of plantation where they worked Mutants like slaves. He got his change and picked up his stuff, and headed outside. 

His name was Marcus Anderson, III, and he was a Mutant. Wounded at the hands of his uncle, he had left home 7 years ago when his psionic touch first flared to life. Trey, as he was called, had reduced his uncle to a sniveling, screaming ball of fear in a psych ward when the fear he was feeling at being strangled was suddenly pumped into his uncle.  He ran away the next day. Since then, he had discovered his other ability. He could form 'Bubbles' of some strange kind of force that he wasn't too sure what it was. 

At the moment, he was outside the Diner, securing his luggage in a hiding place. Then he hid himself, near the vehicle that the two had arrived in. He was thankful for the dark night. The half-moon was behind some clouds. He pulled off the leather work-gloves he always wore. There they were, coming out of the diner, chuckling to each other about other atrocities they ad committed, and seen committed. Trey waited until one of them came close enough, and he sprang into action. A touch on the neck was enough to put the man on his face. All it took was a brief mental command, *SLEEP*, and he dropped like a ton of bricks. The other one followed before he knew what hit him. Trey Braced himself mentally, then went in. He obtained directions from their minds to the 'plantation', and then, set about the hard task. He went a short while back into their memories, fighting the urge to retch at the things he saw. He pumped some of his own revulsion into their minds at the memories. Hopefully, this would continue on, and they'd see this treatment as deplorable. He didn't know if it would work or not. He doubted he'd be able to stick around and see.

Trey's command over his telepathy wasn't that great. He didn't have as much time or opportunity to practice with it as he did with his 'Force Bubbles'. Willing targets weren't easy to find. But he knew enough to knock someone out. People were at their weakest when they are asleep. The exertion of altering memories was serious, and he doubted he'd have any defenses if he made contact with anyone for a while. Right now, he was getting his strength back for his trip. Although his aimless wanderings Now had a goal.

Trey consulted the map he'd gotten when he entered Alabama. He compared the road-names with what he saw on the Map. After a few minutes, he was back on the road again, walking slowly through the night with a new mission. Find this plantation... And bring it DOWN.

End Chapter 1: X-Men, A New Beginning.

Stay in touch for upcoming chapters.


	2. The Rescue

Chapter 2: X-Men, A New Beginning

Foreward: First off, let me start by saying That this story is NOT meant for children. Extreme language, Adult situations. Secondly, The characers Bruce, Trey, Tamra, Terry, Cody and Daniel are All mine. The characters Geneva and Amy are created by teaser_chick@hotmail.com, without whom this story wouldn't b e done NEARLY as quick. The character Diane is the property of dragonkeeper10@hotmail.com. The X-men and all related characters, names, ETC, are the property of Marvel Comics group. The song 'Paint it black' is written/performed by the Rolling stones. I don't own it. Please don't sue me, I'm broke. Now that that's out of the way, on with the story.

Bruce's heart was racing, and his breathing was quick. He could hear them. The rattle of chains, a lead pipe clanging against the wall. And then, the noise that bled his courage from him faster than anything else could. The unmistakable 'shuk-shuk' of a pump action shotgun. 

"C'mon out, Brucie... We just wanna play with you for a little while!" came the voice of the leader of that particular group of Too rich for their own good snobs out for a night of action by beating up the poor kid. It wasn't the first time they'd been after him. But it was the first time they'd come armed. Fists, he'd heal up from in a couple of days. These, he didn't think he'd ever heal up from, if they caught him. 

So he ran. Ran like he never had before. But he was quiet. He knew not to make too much noise or they'd track him that way. There. That Alleyway. He knew that one. A turn there, and a detour through that wall, and he'd be home free. But those security lights... The kind that switched on when something moved in front of them. He knew his powers had a strange effect on machines, so he just had to get close enough to tag them without being spotted. He slid along the wall and reached out with his 'power', and the slight 'Bzzt' sound told him he'd been a success. He moved on quickly, but quietly. Three more security lights followed suit, then a streetlight. He hopped through the wall, and was running at top speed. Which,  as the pursuing thugs discovered, was pretty damn quick. 

***Meanwhile, back in the real world***

Jean and the professor looked at each other, trying their hardest not to blanch at the thoughts they picked up from Bruce. A Vivid Memory, as he executed his first run through the danger room with almost military precision... From the talks they'd had with Bruce, his easy-going, simple, honest nature hadn't hinted at anything like this. Logan, however, was looking at the kid with a new appreciation. "Damn. That kid's runnin' on instinct, And he's outdoin' a lot of the other students on their first runs. This kid's lookin' almost like he's got some kinda stealth trainin'. And he's quick too. 1 minute, 58 seconds, and we gave him 3 minutes to just move from one side of the street to the other, and tag 5 sensors." The danger room had been set up in a city-like scenario. They figured it would be easier for Bruce to adjust to. They were right, apparently.

"In a way, you're right, Logan." Came the Professor's smooth baritone. "He has had training. But not formal... He's done something very similar to this. And his stealth is to elude pursuers that are in his memory. What shocks me, is the strength with which his thoughts are broadcasting... He's not telepathic... His thoughts are fairly screaming at me. Everything he does is right on the surface of his mind... And right now, he seems to be calling on memories of past trauma to encourage himself toward his goal. I'm not sure whether to find it fascinating... or disturbing."

"I'll opt for the latter, professor," said Jean. "But to have gone through things like that... You'd almost think that care-free attitude of his were to cover up pain, but it's all genuine...He really is a remarkable young man. I think we made an excellent choice, professor."

"No, Jean. YOU made an excellent choice. It was your call to bring him here." The professor was smiling at her now. It only reinforced how much she looked to him as a father. "He's under your care, Jean... What next?"

"Alright..." Jean killed the Hologram, and wonder was apparent on Bruce's face, as he passed his hand through where a light pole had been. She leaned forward to the microphone, "Bruce, go to the panel on your left. Put on the vest you find in there. You seemed to act like that was a battle scenario. Let's try something closer to that. You will be against a combat android, equipped with Infrared lasers." 

Bruce had been complying as she spoke, but the word 'laser' made him Jerk his head up, and look toward the control booth with shock and a bit of fear in his eyes. His voice came over the speakers, "WHAT?! You got somethin' dat's gonna be shootin' lasers at me?!" 

"Don't worry. It's like a television remote control. The lasers will trigger sensors in that vest. They're harmless, but they'll vibrate uncomfortably when you're hit. Your mission is to use your powers to deactivate this machine." Relief flooded through Bruce, at these words. Jean made a mental note to teach Bruce some defenses against psionic probing.

***Elsewhere…***

Trey was setting up camp, some 3 miles from the plantation. He'd been surveying it, from a distance, and saw it was very well secured. Guards regularly patrolled a fence he'd seen incinerate a squirrel. Highly electrified. He'd used one of his 'force balls' to distract a guard that came too close to his hiding spot. 

His small fire was well covered, as he fixed his supper. A couple of squirrels, turning on a crudely constructed, but serviceable, spit, and a few wild roots made up tonight's meal. Eating was always a bit rough when it was this time of year, in the Southeastern US. He didn't have the wherewithal to bring down a deer, and smaller food was scarce. That which he DID find was always on the scrawny side.

He munched on one of the roots as he pondered what he was going to do. A place like this was bound to have even tighter security the farther in he got. Something would have to happen. Something to draw attention inward, so he could slip in unnoticed.

But What?

***Back at the mansion***

Bruce calmed himself down. He hadn't been in a situation like this before... This place was incredible. It went from an empty room, to a cityscape in a matter of moments. He couldn't even be sure how big this room was. He touched one of the other walls again, surprised by its feel… Nothing was there a few moments ago. He phased it a little, and it responded like a normal wall would... "This place is so COOL!"

A voice, this time it was that Logan guy, came over the speakers. "Alright, kid. Listen up. You're at one corner, the android's at the other. It knows where you are, because of that vest. Do yer best, kid. No time limit. Mission starting... Now!"

Bruce looked around, and sneaked along the alley floor. He listened intently, trying to pick out the sound of footfalls... There! Sounded like something out of a sci-fi movie, but there it was, his target. Good distance away, but moving pretty quick. Bruce looked around for an option... Hmm... Balcony...

Jean looked down through the view-port in Shock as Bruce started CLIMBING a wall, straight up the side! She hadn't known he could do that... When would he stop surprising them? He swung up onto a balcony, and flattened himself against the floor. There, around the corner, came the robot. Indeed, it walked straight towards him, but didn't seem to be seeing him.  On this low setting, the drones lacked a sense of three-dimensional tactics. So, to make things more difficult, She turned it up to level 3, at which time, it looked up, and started firing wasted shots at the floor of the balcony above its head. Bruce shocked them yet again, when he hung off the wall, and phased the part where the balcony connected to the building. The robot barely jumped back in time to prevent being crushed, but it lost its legs in the process. Bruce jumped down a moment later, using the moment when the robot was trying to roll itself over to fire again, to send his energy field through it. Only half of the machine was phased, but the other half sparked and exploded.

Bruce let out a sigh of relief and sat down on the floor, as the scenery around him seemingly melted into nothing.

The three in the booth looked at each other again. "When we get a new team organized... We just might have a leader on our hands here." Came the professor's comment. 

Logan nodded, "Good head on his shoulders... When he's in battle... I've seen this kinda thing before. This Kid's got combat instincts. A good tactical thinker. He used what I told him about that thing followin' him ta set up a trap. I didn't think he had it in 'im. He struck me as kinda... I dunno... Dumb.

Jean nodded a little... "While I wouldn't put it like that, his performance in the classes has been sort of... less than stellar. Especially in Math. It's like a different language to him. I've actually found him falling asleep, mid-problem."

Logan chuckled, as the professor praised Bruce's performance over the microphone. Bruce took off the vest, which hadn't scored a hit, and walked out of the room. The trio in the control booth started comparing observations, all agreeing on one thing. Bruce wasn't someone to be underestimated.

***At the plantation***

It was a short time before dawn, And Tamra was the only one of those in her stall that wasn't asleep. Then again, this was a normal thing. She woke up before dawn every morning, and ran through a few of her Katas. It was one of the few things from her old life she was still practicing, and somewhat proud of. But the memories it called up weren't all that pleasant though. 

She was 12 years old. Her father had enrolled her in a karate class when she was still a very young girl, and now, she was ready to go out for her Black belt. She wished her mother could have seen her. She had died in childbirth. Complications. But she knew that somehow, her mother knew that she was growing up strong. And Daddy was so good to her. He always made sure she ate well, and was in nice clothes. And, one day, she would stand by his side, in the Friends of Humanity, and help fight off the mutant scourge. What a scourge was, she didn't know, but it must be bad, if mutants were involved. 

She took the test, and passed with flying colors. Her instructor was amazed at her progress. Most students didn't reach black belt before becoming a teenager, but she had achieved it. She all but danced out of the studio, to go to her father's truck. She was so distracted, she didn't notice the car bearing down on her. She only had one moment to cover her eyes, so she at least wouldn't see it coming. And then, there was the explosion. Tamra's pyrokinetic gift had 'sparked' to life, at the expense of the life of the person driving the car. Everyone had seen it. It had even made front page news of the newspaper. There was a manhunt to find her, afterwards. But by then, she had already earned her place on her Father's Mutant plantation. The authorities never found a trace of her. Then again, some of her father's most loyal men were police officers.

Now, she was finishing her last Kata of the morning, all her muscles stretched, And her body ready for the rigors that slave labor would bring with it. Her power wasn't really a help at any time, except now, they needed her to start bonfires for the guards. And then, her collar was only deactivated for as long as it took to get the blaze going. Her father wasn't going to allow her to be killed, but he also wasn't going to allow her to incinerate any of his guards. But they were small fries, compared with what she had planned for her father. She was going to make him suffer... One minute of burning for every one of her fellow slaves that she'd seen him kill. Personally shooting them, so that no one would forget who was in charge here. Few feared him. All hated him. At least, among the slaves. 

But now, the work day was starting, and she was off to her regular duties. Namely, whatever they could find to put her through that would in some way work her until she was ready to collapse. She was one of the only ones whose collar stayed on at all times. But she wouldn't think about that now. Now was time to imagine her father, roasting in front of her very eyes. She relished the thought of him envisioning her as his ticket to hell. He would see her flames being the first of an eternity of burning in agony. It was one of the thoughts that got her through the day.

Elsewhere, Amy had her hands full, raising up some plants out of season for an upcoming feast. She hated giving springtime-life to these plants, only for the weather to kill them in a night's time. It was fall, and they wanted all sorts of vegetables that needed to be harvested during the summer. {Then again, what do They care?} she thought. {They aren't the ones working the fields. It's the mutants. Tammy's right. This has got to end, and soon... I don't know how much more of this I can take... Oh god, they put Stumpy on field duty again.} Stumpy was the nickname the guard that tried to rape her had earned. So called, because Jason's corrosive blast to the foot had rendered that leg unusable. In fact, it had been amputated. Now, he used a peg-leg. The glares he was sending towards the both of them chilled her to the bone, more than the November wind did. Jason, who was working nearby, on harvesting duty, just smiled to himself whenever he saw one of the glares. But, the day passed without incident for the entire group.

Another of the Long-timers (those who had spent more than 2 years at the plantation), but not among the 'Family', was Cody. Cody Brightfeather. The only reason he wasn't, though, is because he was assigned to a different pen. He had been raised on a reservation, out in Oklahoma. He had been kidnapped, and brought here 3 years ago. Now, he was 17. Few of the guards regarded him as anything other than a monster. With good reason, though. His appearance could easily be counted as Diabolic. Sickly pale, blue skin, with a leathery feel, and a scaly look, Was the first thing to be noticed. His stomach seemed to be a cavity, of sorts. He had almost no waist or stomach to speak of. He ate normally, but it was part of his mutation. His body processed foods in different ways. How, he wasn't sure. But Cody's mutation didn't end with that. His hands and feet were also monstrous, with hard, but flexible claws at the tips of each. The bony, razor-sharp digits took the place of normal fingers. Because of his hands, he wore pants with tight, elastic bands throughout, just to hold them in place. 

Currently, his active mutation was in use, slicing through some of the wood Terry felled the day before. Not with his sharp claws. But with a short blade of pure energy that emanated from the palm of his right hand. It tired him to use it, but if the blade even started flickering, the overseer's whip bit deep into his back. He didn't even have a shirt, to absorb the blows. His talons shredded through normal clothing without effort. He longed for the poncho his grandmother made him. Good in summer, good in winter, nothing compared to that poncho. It was even thick and durable enough to withstand his claws. He kept thinking about that, as his blade burned through another stack of wood. He had kept working, but still, the lash bit deeply into his back, causing him to yelp in pain. He looked up at the guard, wondering what he had done... But the only reply he got was a backhanded blow to the face, that sent him to the ground, as his vision was clouded over by stars.

"Eyes front, Demon! If I feel like whippin' you, then you take it! Now get up, and get back to sawin' wood!"

Cody pushed himself up as his vision came back to him. He ran the back of one of his rough hands across his mouth, seeing a trail of crimson now staining one of his talons. His thoughts immediately went to just how his talons would look stained with blood from a flatscan. He'd heard some of the other mutants calling the humans that. This new guard in particular would look good with 3 holes in his chest, from Cody's talons. He said nothing of this, as he stood up, and went back to cleaving the wood with slashes from his blade of energy. In his mind, however, there was another guard he was separating from the lower half of his body.

That night, Tamra looked over at the wall that connected her stall to the next one. She had heard Cody scraping out the ground underneath, she moved aside the haypile that was concealing their connecting tunnel. Cody pulled himself out, careful not to catch the edge of his hip-bone on the wall. He'd done that before, and could hardly walk after it. He pulled himself out of the hole, "Another new guard..." he said as he gently rubbed at the swollen lip. "They all want to make up for being new by beating the crap out of as many mutants as possible."

"Where do they all come from?! All these people with a problem with Mutants!" came the rumbling voice from Terry. Cody was always a bit surprised to hear that Jewish accent coming from the furry giant. He'd come from New york, and a very traditional minded Jewish household. It wasn't that uncommon to hear him praying in Hebrew as he worked the fields.

"All over Alabama... A few from beyond." Came Daniel's comment, as he sat in the corner. His eyes were closed, if only to rest them. If anyone would know, it would be the Mutant genius. No one really knew where he was from though. "Simple fact is, you're right, Both of you. They mostly have some personal fear of mutants, and are doing this to try and deny it. They don't want to claim they're scared of anything. They overcompensate for it, by attacking that which they fear. If they wipe out, or subjugate that which they fear, they will somehow stop fearing it." Cody could only nod. It appears intelligence wasn't the only thing his mutant gift gave him. A certain insight that Cody couldn't deny.

"You're probably right... But what are we going to do...? There... was a shooting, at the plantation house today. " Came Amy's comment.  The fields weren't that far from the house, so she had seen them carrying the kicking, and struggling mutant up to the house. The unmistakable sound of Gunfire was heard a short time later. Amy had recognized him. It was Bill. He was a fairly new addition to the slave-crew, and a fairly powerful telekinetic. He had never lost his resistance to the Human overseers. Today, his beatings ceased. His fighting back stopped. He was shot once through the head, by a very powerful pistol. She saw them carry the body out. At that moment, she wished her talent could be used for something Useful... Like a ticket out of the plantation. The power to create a vine of sharp thorns, and Wrap it around someone's neck. She knew she couldn't, but it couldn't hurt her to want to.

"Oh, I wouldn't worry. Things... Have a way of working out. Our Flatscan friends will soon see the error of their ways." The smirk on Daniel's face, combined with those un-readable eyes made Cody uneasy. He always got the idea that Daniel was always balancing things out. Playing one side off the other... His mind was of a level and caliber that A normal person couldn't even come close to comprehending.

The others looked at him, as those shineless eyes closed, Empty sockets sliding shut, as Daniel relaxed, and went to sleep. In a place where rest was fleeting, and at best riddled with dreams of Horror, Daniel never suffered from a night's sleep. There was so much about him that was bordering on the Chilling. Some at the plantation, who knew him, feared him more than their captors.

And Daniel slept.

***At the mansion***

Jean sat in the kitchen, holding a cup of hot tea. She felt like she needed the help relaxing. Something about the Danger room mission with Bruce had been rather... Disturbing. Someone so at peace with everything... Someone who could have fun doing almost anything... Had suffered through such hardship, and was over it the next day. She sipped at the hot liquid and wondered just how much one would have to have gone through to have that kind of attitude about it. She Knew Bruce was being genuine with his carefree nature... It wasn't an act... She couldn't figure it out. But the sound of footsteps approaching in a hurry jarred her out of figuring Bruce out. 

Diane was suddenly in the doorway, "Ms. Gray, There's something you oughta see… It popped up on all the computers in the computer room at once..." A strangely sickened look came over her face. At that moment, she was joined by Geneva, doing her best to keep her wings under control.

"Ms. Jean! Soemthing just popped up on my computer! You need to see this..." at which time Geneva looked at Diane, and Diane at Geneva... And the two shared one word. 

"Alabama?" and they nodded at each other. Jean just looked at each of them, wondering what they were talking about. They both nearly pulled her along with them, up to the computer room.

***Upstairs.***

"Attention X-men. This is a distress call." Came a strangely calm voice. "My name is Daniel Anderson. The friends of Humanity abducted me Six years ago. I am a Mutant. My gift is 100% retention of everything I see, hear, taste, touch, and smell. They have put me to work finding Mutants to use for slave labor. Our numbers are currently 64. Their numbers are 357. All well armed. They use power dampeners to keep most of us in-line. Only two of us, deemed too important and non-threatening, do not wear them. They are rigged with personal explosives. Not a lot of collateral damage, but lethal to us. I have been monitoring your school for some time, and now I see that you have a student that can help us in a way none have been able to before. I Saw what was written about this Bruce Jackson. A remarkable power. I'm glad you found him. These collars, even the explosives, are all mechanical. Rendering them Intangible is a much more effective means than trying to pick the lock. Enclosed with this email is a set of maps, and plans of the plantation house, where the leaders and head overseers live, and the soldier's barracks, and the slave pens.  I trust the X-men can formulate a plan to free us. Also enclosed is evidence of the atrocities committed on this plantation. I don't have much more time, so please, hurry." And a click, as the recording ended. 

Jean was looking over the pictures, a set of still images, and short recordings of men with rifles herding people in rags and tatters, almost all of them with obvious physical mutations. Everything was as this mysterious Daniel Anderson said. Jean knew that their security wasn't impregnable. But this person's apparent lack of concern... He wasn't worried at all. By now, their small school was gathered around Jean. The foulest expression was on Logan's face. "Damned place looks like a concentration camp. Heh... And wouldja look at that... All the guards're white. Whaddaya wanna bet a schwastika also graces the walls in there somewhere..."

Bruce leaned over to get a better look. He winced as someone took a rifle-butt to the side of the head. "An' this Anderson dude says I'm the key to gettin' 'em out?" Jean looked up, and was taken aback by the frown on his face. "I'm there. Look," he pointed at the map of the place. "Here's the slave pens, right? Not too far from this patch of woods. Now, if this place is still here, there's a good clearing about 5000 feet from the edges of the main clearing." Everyone sat blinking at him. "What? I can read maps... The guy's got a scale down at the bottom..." Was the only explanation they got. Bruce went back to his explaining. "Now... I got lost in this place a couple days ago, and saw that tricked out jet down in the basement... Don't know how ya get it outta here, but if it can fly, and quietly, this place here is big enough to be a landing strip. I know a blackbird when I see one, so I know the thing's got stealth... But that one looked different, so I dunno what all it can do... But if you can set it down in this clearing, All I'd need is someone to keep the guards occupied. Check the notes here. Guards are changed at midnight. So, best time to go would be sometime around 3. Give the other guards a chance to get settled in, and let 'em get bored. 

"Then, I move in... From here." Indicating the point where the forest came closest to the slave pens. "At most, that's about 1000 feet. I can run that no sweat. He shows us the normal guard positions right here and here. They'd only guard the front. The topo map shows the ground's pretty hilly... Plenty of cover, in case one of 'em's makin' a round of the place, or takin' a leak out back. I start here, on this side, and go through, one pen atta time. I might need somebody to keep the guards quiet... but it shouldn't take me long to go through each wall, and phase those collars. Once I get through, I move on to the next pen, take a quick breather, and then, take care of them. And, if there's trouble, you can be on guard right here. Once I get one pen free, I'll send 'em out the back. How's that?" Bruce straightened up, with a smile. There were looks of amazement all around him. He looked around, and blinked a few times, "What?"

"Kid, that's a good plan... Just gotta couple of holes." Came Logan, as he stepped up to the map. "I'll move in, with Hank, since we can move the quietest. We'll take out tha guards..." at a worried look from the professor, "Don't worry, Chuck, they'll wake up in the mornin'. They'll just wish they hadn't. Then, I move on to this Guard tower here, and take out the monitor there, so there won't be any alarm raised, when the collars drop off the radar. Bruce, you wait where you can see the light, and wait for the signal. You'll know it..." then, apparently, Logan thought better of his statement, "I'll pass my claws through th' spotlight, so you kin see the shine. When ya see that, Then you start settin' 'em free."

Bruce nodded, and let out a breath. There was a silence, that was Broken By the professor's smooth voice, that had a strange new quality to it. "Who is going?" To Bruce's surprise, every hand went up, except Geneva's. The professor, smiled a bit. "I know these images are very… inflammatory. But I need Jean here. We must look at the possibility of many of these former slaves becoming students. And… Geneva, I want you to go, too. Some of them may need medical attention. You are the best equipped to deal with this, until we can get them here."

Geneva looked at the professor in confusion. "Umm… Mr. Professor, sir... Are you... really sure you want me to go? I mean... I kinda want to... but..." she left the rest unsaid. Her shyness had won over. 

"Yes, Geneva... I'm positive that I want you three to go. Bruce, since he's the essential part to freeing them, but you two, so you can see Humanity at its ugliest. You all know of my dream that one day humans and mutants will live together in unity and peace. Seeing a place such as this... Will give you the opportunity to decide whether or not you will still try to help me achieve that goal."

Geneva and Diane nodded. Bruce was just looking at the map, an anxious expression on his face. The final few details were hammered out, and all were dismissed.

***

That night, Bruce sat in a chair in his new room. {Wow, I have my own room...} Bruce, even in his mom's place, had had to sleep on the couch. The other room was unsuitable for human habitation. And instead of taking the only bedroom, he had happily let his mother have the room. Now, he sat looking at the moon out the window, deep in thought. A rare thing for him. Right now, he was mulling over the mission. Had his suggestion really been that good? Were his instincts really that tactical? That had just been his first thought, when he saw the maps, and the layouts. He wondered if he could really get that many collars off, and that many people out in a short amount of time... He just didn't know. His power did have its limits.

A knock on the door distracted him. He looked over his shoulder, "Come in?" The door swung open, revealing Logan. The small man walked in shutting the door behind him.

"Hey kid... I figerred you'd be up. Lot's of the X-men were. If they had the time to worry before they had their first mission. You also got the pleasure of layin' it all out fer us. It's been a while since I heard a rookie come up with a plan like that. It's a sound plan. About like one I'd come up with..."

Bruce looked at him surprised... Since coming here, he'd learned that his rescuer was the legendary Wolverine... He'd watched on television, as a child, as Logan lead the X-men against a being called the Adversary. He was looking at his long-time Hero. There was no-one Bruce had ever looked up to more than Logan. "You... You really think so? I mean... I know I'm not smart. I just spoke what came to mind..."

"Then ya got a better head on yer shoulders than ya give yerself credit for. Some people are just wired fer strategy. Some ain't. I'd like to see the stuff you can come up with once you know more about who's on yer team, and have some experience in missions." He pulled a chair from Bruce's desk, and sat backwards in it. "Try narrowin' down yer phase to as small as it needs to be, so it won't be as much of a stress on ya. It'll be the middle of the night, so take yer time, as much as ya can. We'll work on that tomorrow, before we head out. Just keep it small, and controlled... And you oughta be able to do a lot more collars that way."

"Yah, but I got 62 collars, and 19 walls ta phase through. I'm not really sure I can do it all by myself… We're goin' into a place that could have 350 soldiers comin' at me all at once... And I know I can't handle THAT!" Bruce found himself letting go of his fears around the legend in front of him.

"Like ya said, take a breather. There's only about six in a room. Just make sure yer target's awake before ya phase. Get'em ta move quick when ya phase, so you kin let go of it quicker." Bruce nodded at the advice... As good advice as he could get, around now. Quite a few hours that night, until Bruce fell asleep on the floor, Logan kept giving him tips, and advice to sharpen his skills. Logan knew the kid had a big night tomorrow, and he needed the rest. Logan left the room, with a bit of a worried look on his face. Was Bruce really ready for what he had to do tomorrow night? But could these slaves really wait until he was?

***The Next Day***

Geneva was following Jean around, as she got the guest rooms ready. Geneva was a bit of an anxious mess. She had to do something, or else she'd be too busy worrying about tonight's mission. "Are you REALLY sure I should go, Ms. Jean? Couldn't… I wait until they get here to help them?"

Jean smiled a little. "The professor knows what he's doing, Geneva. I've seen something similar to what you're going into. It's not pretty. But it's something you need to see. We're the X-men. We Fight to protect Mutants, AND humans. After seeing something like this, you need to ask yourself Do you Really want to protect normal Humans?"

Geneva frowned a little. She Hated the distinctions so many people put up between the two races. That's what they were in her mind. Like Caucasian, and African-American. In her mind, at least, she saw many commonalities between the 'Mutant' situation, and the problems black people faced in the early part of the 20th century.  She thought of 'Mutants' as being Just different. { Where is the line drawn, between a child Prodigy, and someone who was born with a 6th finger on one hand, to being a 'mutant'?} She finished the last room on the Girls side, while Mr. Hank and the professor got the Boys side ready. She hopped into the elevator, to check on Bruce. He had gone down into the Danger room, with Mr. Logan helping him out in the control Room. When she got there, she looked out through the window, and saw him concentrating. She saw a holographic person wearing a metal hoop around the neck. Bruce had to phase it, and Just it, or he failed the test. Logan praised him on consistency, apparently, as he had managed to master the Size of his phases. He smiled up at the control Booth, but it was a nervous smile. Apparently, he was just as nervous as she was. 

The next person Geneva ran into was Diane. She was keeping her mind off things by dancing her heart out to some Pop-CD or another. Genny quickly moved on. That kind of music wasn't really her thing. She found her way back to her room, now with nothing else to do. It was 2 in the afternoon.  She turned on her CD player, and put it to her favorite song. While it cycled to the appropriate Track, she got down one of her 'My little ponies' and started brushing it's mane. She smiled a little, as the sound of music filled her room...

"I see a red door and I want to paint it black..."

***At the plantation***

Jason stood in an empty portion of field carefully blasting all around him. It was his job to level the ground before they started building another guard's barracks. They were planning on recruiting new members from local Friends of humanity chapters.   {Great.} thought Jason, {More guards around this place. Just what I need. God, why did this happen to me?} He thought back to a couple of years ago. He was your average teenager, just starting high school. He played basketball, he watched football, and he hung out at the mall. Then, one day, about 5 months ago, it just happenned. A senior had shoved him against a locker, and began slamming him repeatedly into it. It was just a random targeting by the school bully. Jason was terrified... so he panicked. He put his hands up trying to ward off the blows. 

Then, the milky white field of energy crackled to life on his arms, and FWOOSH. There went the bully. There went the lockers. There went the roof. There went the upper floors. Jason's corrosive energy field  vaporized half the school building. Almost 100 were killed instantly. 10 more died within days. It took him a little over 20 minutes to figure out how to STOP the issue of the deadly energy from his body. He woke up in a juvenile facility, awaiting trial for the murder of 100 people. Depraved Indifference to Human life, they'd called it.  He stood the chance to go to prison for the rest ofhis life. There was no way, when dealing with a scale of death that large, he'd do anything but die, in some execution chamber.

Then, as he was being transferred to a Juvenile facility, to await his 18th birthday, when he could legally be put on Death Row, His transport was Hijacked, and he was brought here. For a while, he accepted this as his fate... His Cosmic sentence. Then, he started wanting to fight back. In about a month he had regained his desire to live. But that was when he realized that no one deserved to live like this.

Now, his mind was occupied with his task again, when the Rock-salt bit into his back. One of the tactics of the guards was to shoot rock salt from paintball guns. It was useful against mutants they couldn't afford to get too close to. Jason halted the blast, to rub the place where he felt impact. Then the barrel of the weapon was used as a club. Jason pulled himself off the ground, to shouts of, "Get back to work, Mutie! Keep yer mind on the job. You'd think you muties were actually people... You're nothing but animals... put here to do our work. Don't you forget that, slime!" Another blow… Once the stars cleared, Jason saw something horrible. Kwi Lung, A young man from Chinese descent, was being dragged, kicking and screaming towards the plantation-house. Jason knew what was happening. He stood up, and closed his eyes, as the energy coursed from his hands to decimate the hillside he was working on.  A minute or so later, Jason heard what he had been expecting. One thunderously loud gunshot. Jason kept his energy at a low flow... He knew the next step as well. Soon, the body of his friend was dropped in front of him. "Get rid of this trash." Jason's eyes snapped open, and he fixed his eyes on the guard who had dropped Kwi Lung there. A moment later, Kwi Lung was slowly being removed from existence, melted away by acidic energy. Jason's eyes never left the guard... Whose hand never left his sidearm.

That night, at sundown, Jason was tossed into his pen, and rolled to a stop... against the back wall. With a feral sounding growl, he punched the back wall, "I… I'm starting to see Lung's point… I'd rather be dead than do what they say another day... At least Kwi Lung doesn't have to do this anymore... We are not going to survive this winter... Not here, anyway." He looked up, finally managing to open his eyes, "Hey... Where's Daniel?"

Sure enough, the empty-eyed genius was nowhere to be seen. Tamra was the first to speak up, "It's the middle of the month. His regular All-nighter at the mansion." Jason had heard a little about this. Every once in a while, the boss would make Daniel search for new mutants and put out the call for new members. Tonight must be one of those nights. Cody climbed under, signifying security among the pens must be lax tonight.

"Hey... What's going on? There's something strange going on at the plantation-house... Lotta people up and about." The blue skinned mutant asked, as he sat down on his haunches… an effect that made him look very much like a gargoyle.

"They're up at the plantation house getting ready to go out and find the two new mutants... With the two that were killed in the last couple of days, they now have 2 empty collars... To them, that's quite a waste." Tamra commented, from her normal place and activity: Sitting against the wall, and glaring in the direction of the plantation house. "Two minutes without my collar on... Just two minutes. That's all I'd need. Burn their house to the ground... Get them all good and used to the flames they're going to feel forever..." Even the infuriated Jason was struck to silence... Everyone knew she was serious. And Honestly… Jason was thinking something very similar. Silence reigned for much of the rest of the night… Until Tamra was awakened by a hand on her shoulder, 

"Shh... Don't worry... I'm here to help you."

***Earlier***

Logan paced back and forth. He was wearing his familiar Yellow and blue uniform, complete with face-mask. Beast was hanging upside-down from the wing of the plane, "Patience, my friend... Our key element will be here soon." The Blue-furred wonder glanced over at Diane, who seemed quite content in her standard issue X-men uniform. Geneva, in her slightly modified one, was doing her best to hide behind Hank. The girl was quite shy indeed.

"He'd better hurry. An' he'd better not've fallen asleep... Might make me lose the respect I had for tha kid." Came the growl from Logan.  Almost on cue, a blonde head poked through the wall, And looked around. A smile crossed his features and he ran in.

"Sorry I'm late... I got lost again." Bruce was also dressed in the standard X-men spandex-like uniform of blue and yellow. Jean, who was standing nearby to wish the students luck on their first mission, was amazed by how much Bruce reminded her of Scott, in the early days... Tall, lean, but with a look of strength. The only difference was that Bruce didn't have at all the serious bearing that Scott had had. "Did we miss tha time to leave?"

"No, But just barely..." Logan rolled his eyes a little... "Alright folks, listen up. I don't have a lot of time ta tell you this. When we get on board, find a seat, and strap in. If I see one of you NOT buckled in, I'm gonna come and do it myself. You don't want that. Everybody clear? Then let's Move!" he said, as he quickly climbed on board. Everyone followed, Geneva following Hank, who boarded last of those going. She realized her mistake, when Mr. Hank went towards the controls, and now she had to find a seat, feeling like she was walking around, nearly Naked... at least, that's how she felt... she quietly, and without looking at anyone, found a seat, strapped in, and attempted to hide behind her wings. Bruce was opposite her, and looking more than a little nervous... Diane was behind him. Ms. Roro... Ms. Or... Ms. STORM... was behind Geneva... {Too many 'Ro's in her name... I can never get it right... storm's a lot easier to say.} Thought Geneva as Logan's voice came from the front. "Get ready Kids... Once we get airborne, we're gonna be movin' quick. We oughta be there in less than an hour... This thing's capable of Exit Velocity,  so Hold on tight." Geneva did... she felt the plane lifting off... She peeked through her wing to look through the window. Apparently, the hangar was right under the basketball court. She saw the goal pass right before her eyes, before being obscured by the wing. She sat back, trying to relax. Suddenly The plane lurched forward, as the thrusters kicked in. Genny heard a squeal from beside her. She looked over, and saw Bruce's seat empty, His feet sticking through the front of it. She looked further back, to see a blushing Bruce, with his head in Diane's lap. 

"If you wanted to sit with me, You only hadta ask," Diane teased. Bruce blushed more, and finally managed to get up, and back into his seat. 

"HEY! Siddown, Bruce. An' keep a lid on that power of yers... Don't need a student getting' scared an' fallin' through th' floor. Not when we're at fifty thousand feet. Just relax. We'll be there soon.

As Bruce secured his safety harness again, muttering, "That's what's makin' me nervous..."

The hour passed quickly. Bruce had barely noted the passage of time, before the plane sat down quietly in the clearing. By their watches, it was 2 AM. According to the plan, they all set out quietly across the forest floor. They all had dim lights attached to their belts. It lit up the ground in front of their feet, and helped to spot the person in front of you. Considering their circumstances and training, they made good time. 

By 3 AM, Bruce, Wolverine and Beast emerged into the dim starlight. By the position of the moon, they probably had nearly an hour left before it set. Logan went out first, followed by Bruce. Beast brought up the rear. In roughly 2 minutes, the three of them were against the wall of the Slave-pens. Without a word, bruce went right through. Logan heard the sounds of 6 people waking up. They were quiet,  but a little nervous. He couldn't hear the hushed conversation Bruce was having with them. It didn't matter anyway. His job lay ahead.

Logan timed his strike to coincide with Hank's. In short order, the two posted guards, who were both half asleep anyway, were knocked out. Wolverine then moved on, quiet as a mouse, Across the open field. There was the guard tower, and the light. With practiced ease, Logan slipped right by the light, and was up the ladder. There was the guard, reading a girly magazine. As he flipped the page, Logan knocked him solidly on the back of the head. The man was unconscious before he hit the floor. With a harder swing, the monitoring equipment was ruined. The light stayed on, just as they had all hoped. Logan hung out over the edge and put his hand in front of the light. Out from the back of his hand emerged the three Razor sharp metallic claws That reflected a bright shard of light right at the first pen. Logan watched, and saw 6 figures emerge into the spotlight. With a smile, he worked his way back down. {Kid's just as good as I thought. Sure am glad Weapon X project never had anyone like him...}

Down in the pens, Bruce was already on the third pen. 14 mutants were all freed now, thanks to him. He wwent through the wall to the fourth, and the number increased to 20. His progress was steady. No challenges. They all moved out the door, and began to move towards the forest as directed. After about 30 minutes of work, Bruce, tired and winded, sat down in the tenth pen. The variety in this room alone was incredible... A furry giant, that dwarfed even Dr. McCoy... A green girl that looked like she would snap in half in a strong wind. A normal looking boy... Around Bruce's Age... probably closer to Genny, though. A blue skinned... boy... Sitting against a wall. He looked like something out of a Horror movie. Claws, pointed ears... The total package. He's probably what most people think of when they think 'Mutant'. Then there was the last person in the room. 

Now SHE was definitely NOT what people thought when they thought Mutant. Fiery Red hair, angelic face, All-around gorgeous... Bruce resisted the urge to whistle softly to himself... He instead busied himself waking the others. Then it came time to wake the redhead., he did as he'd done with the others, a Shake to the shoulder. "Shh... Don't Worry... I'm here to help you." 

Apparently, though, the girl wasn't much of a heavy sleeper. Her hand flashed out and grabbed Bruce by the neck. Strong girl... That's what Bruce would have thought, had he not been aiming more on extricating himself from her grip. He decided NOW would be a good time for a show of friendship... He phased her Collar, and Did his best to Haul himself upwards. It worked. The girl was suddenly freed. Now, however, A bright read glow seemed to spring up around her. "Thought you'd sneak in and have some fun with the Mutie chick, huh? Well, looks like the 'Boss' is going to have one less guard in the morning."

Bruce reached out with both hands, and tapped her neck. She shied back, releasing Bruce, and appeared to be about to strike again, when she stopped, and then felt her neck for herself. Bruce managed to cough out, "The guards outside are out cold. I have some friends in the woods waiting to get you out... You're free..." as he rubbed his throat. "But we gotta hurry... It'll be daylight soon..." he got down on a knee, to apparently take a moment to try and get himself back together.

Tamra just stood there, looking around. No collars… on Anyone. This person appears to be telling the truth. The fact that she now had access to her pyrokinetic abilities should have clued her in to that… An abductor or rapist wouldn't do something to make her MORE dangerous... Cody's energy blade was glowing brightly, giving light to the stall. Jason's hands were glowing brightly. Terry was up and about, and sniffing the air. His bestial senses were now at their peak. Amy was rubbing her eyes, as if she'd just awoken. A sizzling sound brought her eyes back around to Cody. He had just sliced the door in half, and looked back at the group, his eyes shining with a cold light in the darkness... "What're we waiting for? Grab our Savior, and let's GO!"

Shortly, they were outside, and running towards the forest. Bruce was back on his feet too. The crowd of 61 mutants had made it some of the way, but had apparently not wanted to go on without everyone. Suddenly, the redheads voice came out. "Daniel! Daniel's up at the mansion! We've got to get him out! He'll be killed if we don't!" The crowd, for the most part, stopped… Some distance behind the rest of them, was Terry. The Giant was looking at the moon, with a blank expression. The expression quickly changed, as did the rest of his body. Instead of lightly furred, he went to heavily furred. A set of tusks grew out of his lips. He seemed to take on another Foot of height, and his muscles grew like balloons. All the mutants looked on, most in surprise, others in fear. The giant straightened up suddenly, and let out a roar that sounded something like a mix of bear with Lion... And charged towards the mansion. 

A few of the mutants kept running for the forest, where they were welcomed by Geneva, Diane, and Storm. Some just stood there, not knowing what to do... And some... Including Tamra, Cody, and Jason, Charged off after Terry. Bruce took off after this group. Being tired (And having a bit of difficulty taking a deep breath), he lagged behind. He stopped, to catch his breath, and saw the guard tower fall, as if the entire base had been taken out from under it. That's because... It had.

***Inside the Plantation-House***

"What was that?"

"I dunno... I can't hear Shit over that Damn Mutie's room... What'd it sound like?"

"Like a crash! I'm goin' to the window to che- HOLY SHIT! THEY'RE LOOSE! SOUND THE ALARM! THE SLAVES'RE LOOSE, AND ATTACKING!!!"

Daniel chuckled to himself and pulled his little project out from under the computer desk. It was a rather large pistol, with an even larger magazine extending from the handle. He checked over his work momentarily, then stood up and went to the door. He opened it, and calmly shot both guards through the head. He continued down the hallway, seeking a quick exit. By his calculations, Terry had just suffered from his mildly Lycanthropic power, and was striking back at the mansion, now that his inhibitions were lowered. A sizzling sound came from outside, and Daniel stopped for a moment. Seconds later, the ground shook with an explosion. Judging from where the sound came from, that would be Tamra and the rest of the Mutants with energy powers destroying the Barracks. That gave him roughly one minute to get out. That's how long it would take for the rest of them to get here, and start trying to free him. He rounded a corner, and saw six of the soldiers exiting their rooms, in various stages of dress, all carrying shotguns. 2 seconds later, they were all slumped to the floor, missing half of their heads.

Daniel continued on his way, killing ever Friend of Humanity he came across. He was mildly surprised to see Tamra at the front door… A good 15 seconds ahead of schedule. "Which way to my Father's room?" 

Daniel knew what she planned to do. So he pointed back over his shoulder, and responded coolly, "Upstairs, third hallway to the left. Be careful. Lot of soldiers still in here. And they're the good ones."

Tamra nodded, and went on her way. That telltale increase in heat told him that she was probably not planning on coming out again. Sure enough, the doorway burst into flames just as Daniel passed outside. Down in the yard, 20 mutants were holding their own against a force of close to 100 guards and soldiers. In fact... With Jason, and the other Beam-oriented Mutants on their side, this should be easy work.

Down on the battlefield, Terry's hide was proving quite bulletproof. It seemed to merely annoy him when he took a twelve-gauge Shotgun blast to the chest. A sweep of his paw-like hand, and 3 more attackers fell in crumpled heaps. Jason's short range with his corrosive energy hampered him little. It was the tight quarters in which he had to work. But still, Soldiers fell with his every strike. Cody, however, was Savage poetry in motion. His Agility and speed were unmatched, and his skill with his energy blade was something to be feared. What their slave-drivers hadn't realized is that by forcing the mutants to use their powers until they collapsed on a regular basis had been a very effective training. Cody could swing his hand, dispel his blade, and call it again in time to Miss a Mutant's head, and cleave that of the Guard in front of him. Beams of every imaginable color and intensity streamed out from the mutants. Others threw whatever object came at hand to crush or knock down the opponents. This small fighting force was something to be feared. However, the soldiers and guards soon learned that entrusting the construction of your weapons to mutants who fear and hate you was a BAD idea. Many found their weapons backfiring, or exploding in their hands. 

The human soldiers broke off to regroup, and discovered that in 5 minutes, their numbers had dropped from 115, to 45. The mutants, however, needed no time to regroup. Work in harsh weather conditions had conditioned most of them to be able to keep their footing on the ground that was now slick with blood. Some of the soldiers broke off to try and escape to the woods, but most of them were cut off. The mutant combatants stood back, as Terry began to charge.  

Then, out of the forest flanking the battlefield, a thin green girl ran in perpendicular to Terry's path. Soon, she was between Terry, and the Guards, feet planted wide apart, hands spread wide, and shouting "NO!" at Terry. The large mutant suddenly ground to a halt, skidding a few feet to stop a few feet in front of the girl. A confused purr-growl came from his monstrous throat. Amy calmly walked up to him, and said, "Good job, Terry... Now Down..." He complied, laying down almost flush with the ground. The girl climbed calmly onto his shoulder, and sat, perfectly side-saddle. She then addressed the assembled, and quite still, guards.

"Okay, boys. You have two choices. You can keep Fighting, and last about a minute and a half... Or, you can throw down your weapons now. You see, Terry here is really mad at you... He's been here longer than I have... And you've been really mean to him for that time. I'm not sure how long I can hold him back. And the rest of us mutants are just as mad at you. But I'd rather see you rot in jail for the rest of your life, than die quickly, however painfully, right here. So... What'll it be, boys?"

Almost in unison, 45 guns hit the ground, 90 hands went into the air, and 45 voices called out, "We give up!"

Behind them, the upper floor of the plantation house suddenly exploded into bright flames. Many of the guards quailed and sank to their knees in despair as their mighty strong hold was being blasted away from the inside. The mutants cheered, as the symbol of their captivity was being destroyed.

***Inside the plantation House, Again***

Tamra walked slowly down the hallway. Flags professing Racial purity as the only solution, Schwastika, Down with Mutants, ETC, all burned to nothing as she passed them. Guards who came out to attack her were quickly mowed down by a blast of heat strong enough to melt their rifles to slag. Flares of pyrokinetic energy consumed everyone who stood before her. She'd never put her power to this much use before, and while it was exhilarating, it was also taking its toll on her. But she wasn't concerned about that. All she thought about was finding 'Daddy-dearest'. She was closing in on the hallway Daniel had told her about. She saw the rich Cherry-wood door in front of her. 

With all the effort it took to blink, Tamra destroyed the door in a flash of crimson energy. She was glad of this nice red aura surrounding her. She felt Warm, safe, and protected. She walked through tall flames as if they were mere illusions. Apparently, her powers offered her a bit of protection against fires. Made sense to her. And she was not about to question it now. There, in front of her, was a fat, balding man in his forties, scurrying out another exit in his room, wearing a set of beer-stained and Dirty night clothes. Tamra took a second, and made sure his room was completely burning, before moving a little more quickly to intercept him. 

Sill more guards, this time, some of his elite, stood waiting for her. Tamra laughed loud and hard, as she saw them move into doorways to seek a safe position to fire from. Tamra merely pointed her hands forward, and sent a cone of pure flame out that consumed the hallway, the guards, and, unfortunately, much of the floor. Tamra Ran down the hallway, using all the speed her hard labor and martial arts training had granted her. She leaped to the far side, just as the floor behind her started to collapse. She continued on her way, following the panicked shouts of the leader. No guard could pose a threat to her. They were all more fodder for her bonfire.

Outside, the boss ran frantically for the treeline. He had to get to the road. Had to get out of here. As he neared his truck, the engine suddenly exploded. The force of it sent te little man rolling into a little ball of fear. He looked up, and There was his greates fear. His daughter, Tamra James, was standing in front of him, surrounded by a flickering red glow. She looked down at him, and smiled the sort of smile the madman has in all the horror movies.

"Hello, Daddy."

He fumbled around the back of his jeans, and pulled out his Execution-gun... A .357 magnum. He tried to bring it around but a jet of flame intercepted his hand. It was strange… it didn't hurt NEARLY as bad as he thought it should... when the Fire cleared, he saw why. The gun was a melted pool of metallic liquid, and his hand was just a blackened stump. That's when he started screaming.

"Ah-ah-A-ah..." she said in a sing-song voice. "You shouldn't play with naughty toys like that, Daddy. Somebody could get hurt..." She started walking towards him.

"T-Tamra, honey... I'm yer FATHER! Y-you can't do this to me!" A strangely calm part of his mind remarked at how much this sounded like the desperate attempt of a dying man. Probably because it was.

She leaned closer, "Like I'm your precious little girl? The same one you threw in the slave pens the moment you found out she was just another Mutie piece of trash? Did my being your daughter keep you up at night as your men tried to come down into my pen and rape me? That's the only thing I'm thankful that you did... Is send me through those Karate classes. Your pathetic guards didn't stand a chance against me. More of a chance than they stood tonight, but still... You've been a bad Boy daddy. I can remember 13 mutants you personally killed... 10 more killed by guards. You always used to teach me that mutants were the scum of the Earth, and that White people were the master Race. Well, I've personally found that mutants, and people of different races can be a LOT more Human than you and your friends. Who better to claim vengeance for what you've done... than your own little GIRL!"

While she was talking, he tried to get up and run away. Suddenly, he found his feet taken out from under him by an intense blast of flame. He landed on the ground, rolling around in agony. His pants were on fire. His shirt was on fire. And still Tamra Advanced. He sobbed out pleas for mercy. It was truly a pathetic sight. And that was just how tamra hoped it would be. "Goodbye, Daddy. I'll probably see you soon... But first... I'm going to give you my all... Just like a Good daughter SHOULD!"

With her final scream, she sent out every bit of power she had left. The flare went high into the night sky. It stayed there that high and bright for quite a few seconds. Tamra sank to the ground, the Aura around her flickered, and died. There she was, on her knees, panting and swooning a little. She could barely keep her head up. That last shot really had taken everything she'd had. Now she was intensely aware of the heat from in front of her, and the chill wind on her back. She sat there, smiling... It was over. She'd done it. Gotten her revenge for what he'd done to her and all her friends. Then, she heard it. That unmistakable sound of Shotguns cocking behind her. Three of them, by the sound of it. She turned her head a little, and saw her father's final three Elite guards were there. She'd killed the rest. Heh... How strange that sounded... She'd Killed. Its strange the things one thinks when one is about to die. She fully turned around, and closed her eyes. "Fire away, boys."

She heard the shots. She expected getting shot by multiple rounds from multiple shotguns to hurt. She hadn't expected to live through the night. She opened her eyes, and found herself looking at... A skinny butt? She looked up, and saw shoulder length white hair. It was her Savior. Now, twice over. He was there, in something close to a horse-stance... And frozen, in midair in front of him, were slightly shimmering rounds from the shotguns... the three guards were looking at each other, a little bit of confusion. They'd always believed that their guns were the ultimate weapons against mutants. But here was one that rendered them useless... Then, they charged, apparently, going to use their weapons as clubs. That seemed to be a very bad idea to her rescuer. 

Bruce yelled0, "DON'T YOU IDIOTS KNOW WHEN TO RUN!?" And lost control of his anger. He made a pushing motion with his hands... And immediately, Tamra looked on as she saw a Ripple pass through the air. When it came in contact with the last of the elite guards, their guns, clothing, jewelry... Anything that wasn't alive, basically, was stripped away like it was dust, blown away by the wind. The indiscernible pile of matter fell behind them. The guards stumbled to their knees, naked, and surprised. The blonde growled at them, "Next time it ain't just gonna be your clothes... Run. NOW!"

They Did.

***Still Elsewhere, and a short time earlier.***

Genny had given directions on what to look for to the first group of mutants that had come to her.  Mr. Logan had come back to lead them back to the Blackbird. No one seemed more qualified. Geneva really didn't know what to make of him. So Generally, she avoided him. Now, she was seeing a new side of him. Somewhere between cold professional, and Hero. The generally young age seemed to wok to the Slaves' advantage in this case. She'd heard a little about how he seemed to have a tendency to try and take children under his wing. Ms. Storm was nearby keeping a watch out for any more approaching. The signs of a large combat taking place nearby was making Geneva feel very uncomfortable. Diane came up behind her, and tapped her on the shoulder. Geneva jumped a little, "Diane… Give a girl a little warning next time... I'm not liking the looks of this. It looks like things aren't really going as planned."

Diane nodded, "Yeah... I noticed... It looks like things're heating up over there. Wait, here come some more... Oh no... They're being followed! And I think I just saw a gun!" The blonde girl pointed. Geneva looked, and sure enough, there was a group of five mutants running for the woods as fast as they could, as a group of haggard looking men were chasing them. That's when Geneva saw something flash by overhead. There was Ms. Storm, living up to her name. Floating a good bit above the ground. A brief gesture, and a flash occurred in a cloud overhead.  Rain started falling. Hard rain. Geneva had trouble seeing what happened next. She saw a few of the mutants make it into the woods, but one fell. Geneva saw one of the attackers arrive over the fallen mutant. He raised his gun for a strike, and brought it down across the mutant's face. 

Geneva didn't think about what she did next. She was dimly aware of Diane moving towards the main group of assailants. Geneva merely took to the air, her wings snapping out, and lifting her off the ground. She saw the mutant's head come up, and the guard's rifle point at it. Geneva flew straight at the hand, and swung her feet forward, screaming, "NO!" Her foot connected. She was acutely aware of two sounds. One, was the rifle discharging harmlessly into the ground. The other sound was the unmistakable crunch of bone breaking. It wasn't her foot. There was only a little pain there. She knew it was the guard's hand. 

She landed nearby and turned around. The mutant was stumbling towards the woods. The guard was on the ground, clutching his hand. Instantly, Geneva's caretaker instincts kicked in. Never mind the fact that this person was about to Execute a mutant, and was reaching for his gun again. Geneva came p to him, "You're hurt. Let me help you."

"Fuck off, Mutie Bitch!" The man grated out. He now had his rifle in his left hand. Geneva Still didn't move. 

"Let me help you. I can make it better." She held out her hands, gathering her powers for a healing 'blast'.

Suddenly, what happened seemed to be a blur. The rifle came up, and pointed at her. She closed her eyes, gritted her teeth, and got ready to be shot. There was a bright flash in front of her eyes. She was knocked back by something... She cracked an eye open...  And thought to herself {I think I piddled...} She knew she hadn't been hit by a bullet... The energy arcing over the now fallen, face-down guard told her what happened. Ms. Storm had saved her. Instead of dwelling on that, she was instantly on her knees, rolling over the large man. There was a blackened spot on his chest. His breathing was shallow. She was just getting ready to release her healing blast, when she heard it. The Death rattle. That last, wet-sounding, unbearably short breath. The man's head rolled to the side, eyes staring out, blood leaking from his mouth. She knew there was nothing she could do. 

So she cupped her face in her hands, and cried.

She became aware of a woman's hand on her shoulder. She looked up, and saw Ms. Storm standing over her. "I'm sorry, Geneva."

All she could come out with was, "Ms. Storm... Why?"

"Geneva... No long ago, I watched as one of my best friends was killed... I've lost too many friends... Cyclops... Thunderbird... I do not want to see a student under my care die. I was not intending to kill him.  Merely stun him to unconsciousness... But I truly saw no other option that could get to him in time to keep you alive... I'd do it again, Geneva."

Geneva nodded a little... Absorbing the words and all their meaning. Instead of saying anything, she stood up, and Hugged. Ms. Ororo.

A short distance away, Diane's Mild molecular control came into play, with her creating battering rams of Solid air to knock back the ever advancing guards. Two of them already weren't getting back up, but She was starting to feel overwhelmed. She had the strange sensation that someone had just ran behind her, but it was in the direction of the main building. That wasn't on her mind right now. What was was keeping those five remaining guards at bay. It looked hopeless until A big, furry blue shape bounded right over her head, to plow into them. Diane couldn't get any kind of shot off, in such tight quarters... But that wasn't a concern, once she saw Beast in action. Soon, the five of them were on the ground, and in no shape to continue fighting. 

"Diane, Are you alright?" She ALWAYS had to fight the mental disparity between what he looked like and what he sounded like. "They didn't hurt you, did they?" His jovial nature was replaced with concern, as the good doctor stepped p, and briefly looked her over. 

"I-I'm fine… but go check on Genny... Last I saw she went that way, after a guy with a gun... I hope she's alright..." Diane looked back in that direction, and saw Storm beside Geneva, apparently comforting her... The rain had stopped, so she could see more clearly. She looked in the direction of the Plantation house again, and was surprised to see it Burning. "Uh… GUYS! I think there's a Serious problem here!"

***Elsewhere still, well... More like ElseWHEN***

Amy ran with a few of her friends, helping to guide them towards the forest. She knew they were being followed, and their pursuers were gaining. So she urged them on the best she could. Then, it started raining! It was CLEAR a minute ago. The loose footing and wet ground caused her trip. She rolled a little and saw her friends make it into the woods. She looked behind her, and gasped a little, when she saw one of them was almost on top of her, She tried rolling to the side when the Rifle-butt came at her face, but she was a tad too late. She looked back in the direction she knew him to be. Once her vision cleared, she saw the end of his rifle's barrel. Her eyes stayed open... She wasn't sure that she COULD move a muscle. 

Out of nowhere, A winged girl came out of the darkness, and kicked the gun away. That was all the help Amy needed to get up and into the woods. She leaned against a tree, once she was good and in there... Leaning against it's strong trunk seemed to help her head clear. A flash of lightning made her jump a little, and brought her back to the world... She realized... Terry was back towards the house. She had to go back for him! Her big brother was there by himself... Okay, not really, but he was in his wild-state that he'd told her about. She had to see if she could calm him down. So, once she got her wind back, she ran back across the yard, as quickly as she could. The blazing plantation house dominated her field of vision. That might be why she didn't see that she had an attacker waiting on her. 

A hand flashed out from the darkness beside the slave pens, and grabbed her right along the nerve on her shoulder. She instantly froze, paralyzed by such intense pain she couldn't even scream. The most she could do was let out an agonized squeak. A familiar voice whispered harshly in her ear. 

"Yer all alone now, Bitch. All yer friends are gone. And now, you're gonna pay for what your friend did to mah leg. And ain't nobody gonna stop me." It was 'stumpy'. He had apparently been counting on her coming back this way. And now, the luck of the Irish had run out... There was nothing she could do to stop it. She couldn't even bring her hand up to bat at his. Even if she could , she knew that there was nothing she could do against such a powerful attacker. Even with a peg-leg, he was more than a match for her. She closed her eyes, as best she could and awaited the inevitable. 

Then, the sound of fist against face was heard. The hand on her shoulder released its grip, and she fell to the ground with a strangled cry. A voice so thick with Southern Drawl came into her ears, she was afraid that they were about to  start fighting over who got her first.

"Ah don' much 'preciate th' way yer treatin' th' lady, Suh. Ah believe she deserves an apology." Amy looked up... She hadn't seen this guard before... Starting from what she could see first, a pair of worn Cowboy boots, Tight jeans, a loose fitting shirt, a leather vest, a rugged face, complete with a scar crossing it, from left eyebrow, to right cheek, and a cowboy hat finishing off the package. All he needed was a pair of chaps, and he could be an extra in a western. The strange part was... it looked like he had no eyes... No eyes?

"Who're you? Ah ain't seen you 'rount here...Wait... yer Ahs...Yer a mutie too!" Stumpy drew a rather large, somewhat shoddy looking pistol from his waist. He'd probably meant it for Amy once he was done with her. He pointed at the stranger, who seemed none too impressed. He casually waved a hand, and the gun flew up out of Stumpy's hand. The gun then exploded... The work of Saboteurs in weapons production. She heard a dull thump, and looked, a bit of a ripple of red. Suddenly, it was gone, and the ripple was actually Stumpy. Shrapnel from the exploding weapon had embedded itself in the side of his head and neck. A gloved hand landed on her other shoulder lightly. It was the stranger.

"Are you awlraht, miss?" She turned to look at his face. In the dim light, she could see the roundness of his eyes... Black eyes... Maybe telekinetic too... And more important, right on time...

"Y-yes... Who... Who are you..." Amy managed to stammer out. The stranger smiled, and stood up, helping her up as well. He was strong... or it was just how light she was. She just blinked... Her luck of the Irish was still holding, apparently.

"Trey Anderson... Lookin' fer someone. Y' seen a boy with blue skin 'round here? Black hair... Claws..." Amy just nodded, still not sure of what was going on.

"That's Cody... He... was in the pen next to ours... He... I think he went to fight at the plantation house... the plantation... TERRY!" Suddenly, she was out of the stranger's hold, and running for the inferno. The sounds of combat seemed to have died down. {Oh God, PLEASE let that be a good sign!} She thought as she ran. She was suddenly aware that the stranger... Trey... Was beside her, matching her speed. 

"Hope y' don't mahnd th' company. But if Ah follow you t' yer Terry, Ah might fahnd mah Cody. An' no offense, but that looks like a rough crowd ahead... An' you don' exactly look in th' shape t' handle it." Amy didn't waste the breath arguing. She probably would need help getting in to Terry.

***The here and now (Confused yet?)***

Tamra leaned against Bruce... That's how he'd introduced himself. She was exhausted... Felt like she could hardly move. She was glad for the help. He towered over her, but still had no trouble supporting her. "Hey... Bruce... why'd you hold back against hose guys? They wouldn't have done that for you...  If that had een my power, my first wave would've done whatever yours did to their clothes to them... Why didn't you?"

Te boy chuckled. There was actually happiness behind it. It was a sound she hadn't heard in years. She looked up at him, confused. His words surprised her...

"I can't."

"What?" Tamra just looked at him confused.

"My power don't work against living things... If it did, they wouldn't have stood up to the first wave. It was a bluff. If I can get outta it without killing anybody, I'll do it. I'm not even sure I know how I did that last one... It pretty much wiped me out... So even with my power at it's top... I couldn't phase a living thing." His smile was simple, and honest. Tamra thought she could look at it all day. It was the first honest smile she'd seen in six years. The two continued walking towards the gathering where the wounded were being tended to. Bruce was surprised to see the Blackbird had been moved to the central yard.

Genny was moving along the line of wounded... Her power was feeling tapped... She'd tended to the mutants first... Few had major injuries. She was feeling a little over-worked. As one of the few that had real first-aid training, she was doing the bulk of the prep work, in preparations for the Ambulances to arrive. She'd also emptied 5 small First Aid kits. She had just helped what most people would describe as a rather grotesque physical mutation, who had a minor slash from a guard's knife, and a gunshot wound. She hadn't minded his looks. True, her mutation did edge towards the more elegant, maybe even beautiful, but Geneva wouldn't say something like that about herself. To her, it didn't matter what anyone looked like. They were all people. 

The next case was similar, except for the grotesque part... It was... actually a rather cute guy. Geneva didn't let that stop her from doing her job.  She knelt down beside him, just as she saw Bruce help a rather exhausted looking redhead down to a place to sit with the other mutants. Just in time, she thought. 

"Hey, Bruce... Go onto the blackbird, and get me a First Aid kit... Mine's empty." The blonde nodded, and headed for the plane. She smiled a little to her patient, "Hi... I'm Geneva. What... Seems to be the problem?"

The young man, of apparent asian descent, Looked up at her, "Whoa... If this is what nurses dress like now, I might have to become a doctor one day... I'm Jason. Jason Carter. Got winged on the shoulder… I think I might have a cracked rib or two..." the blood on his tattered shirt sleeve attested to the first. The way he was leaning on one arm seemed to suggest the second. Geneva was trying to focus on her professionalism, to perhaps counteract the shy blush on her face. However, the dawn was fast approaching, and the sky was rosy, and somewhat warm, for this time of year. 

Geneva nodded, "Okay... I'll need you to take off your shirt..." She blinked in confusion, as he brought up his good hand, and ran it along the top of his shirt. {What is he doing?} she thought to herself, until the shirt fell away from his body, leaving Geneva totally speechless... And the only thought she seemed to be able to manage was {Oh... My...} She finally shook herself out of staring at the well-toned body. "O-kay... that works..." She jumped a little, with an "Eep!" As Bruce set down a First aid kit the size of a suitcase beside her.

"Dat's tha only one I could find. It was in tha back. " was the only Explanation Geneva Got, as Bruce went over, and laid down against a tree-stump. Geneva envied Bruce his ability to fall asleep so easily. Instead she opened the med-kit, and got out some gauze and Ace bandage. 

"Umm... Thisis gonna hurt… prolly really bad. Umm you can hold onto my..." {Hand?... Umm... no, I need that. Leg? NO! Bad Geneva! Arm? I need those, too... Shoulder! That's it!} "Shoulder... and squeeze, if you need to... But I need you to hold still while I wrap this." A warm, gentle hand fell on Geneva's shoulder. She thought she could have fainted right then. Instead of busying herself with those immature thoughts, Geneva went to work on his shoulder. She could tell by his eyes... those dark brown, almond shaped eyes... {WILL YOU STOP THAT?!} And the way he was clenching his other hand. The one that wasn't on her shoulder. That one barely twitched a couple of times. She finished as soon as she could. 

Then she began the task of inspecting his ribs... From the twitches and grunts she got from him, she could guess they were at least bruised. It was all she could tell without an X-ray... But she knew to wrap them, at least. "Um... okay... You're gonna need to take it easy on these for a while. Just try and keep your back straight, and rest as much as possible... And... go to a real doctor as soon as you can." This is what she told him as she put the tight bandage around him. She looked at him, "Not too tight?" She asked, knowing she had been very careful, but the question was ingrained in her. 

Jason shook his head, and stood up. "No... I'll be alright. I'd call you the 'A' word, but you've probably heard it so many times you're sick of it." He smiled, and walked away, walking to the shelter of the plane. Apparently he was among those who had agreed to go to the School. Geneva just watched him walk away... {Okay... is it possible he's Too perfect? *sigh*} She went to pick up the medkit, and ended up spilling half its contents out onto the ground.

"Bruce! Why didn't you tell me it was open!" She said, more embarrassed than angry. 

Bruce, without skipping a beat, or even opening his eyes, responded with, "'Cause you opened it." 

Geneva blushed, realizing her platinum haired team-mate had been quite correct. She quietly put the contents back ion the case, and hefted it, carrying it towards the last of the mutant combatants. She really wanted to head towards the human prisoners, but she had been ordered to keep her distance. Some of the prisoners had made attacks against mutants who strayed too close. She walked towards the creek, where she encountered a surprising sight. A green girl, gently rubbing the head of a furry giant. She walked up close, "Is anything wrong?"

"I killed them." Came a voice from behind the hands of the giant. He easily was taller than anyone else she had ever seen. "I went berserk... I didn't want to do it... but I killed them... Oh, forgive me, Jehovah…" 

"Shh.. Terry... You'll be alright... You told me about it... You can't control yourself when you see a full moon. The important thing is we're free now, and no more Kids are going to end up like us.  We didn't even lose a single one of the slaves. We all survived, Terry. And the one who's responsible for most of that is you. Don't think of yourself as a killer... think of yourself as a Hero." The girl consoled him. 

"I'm sorry," said Genny, "I didn't mean to intrude on anything... I just… wanted to make sure everyone's alright...  didn't mean o get in the middle of a boyfriend-girlfriend thing..."

The both of them suddenly looked at her, then at each other, and back at Genny and then... they laughed. Terry's came slowly at first, then louder... Amy's was at Full force. "he's not my boyfriend... We were stall-mates... And Terry helped me, after the guards would toss me in someplace where there were plants being hurt..." Amy said by way of explanation.

"That's right..." chuckled Terry. "She's more Little Sister to me than anything. Her power gives her a bond to plants... And, since They had me pushing down trees, they'd have me carry her back to the stalls with me. We were the first of the 'Family' to call ourselves that. Then I was Tamra, then finally Daniel became a part of it..." The two smiled... And Terry moved out of the creek, to lay down. He looked something like a cat, when he curled up like that. As soon as he seemed to be out, Amy approached the winged girl.

"Hey... Could you help me with this cheek? It's -killing- me..." The girl's cheek was swollen, and had a very discolored area. Geneva smiled, and handed the girl some asprin to take, and gathered what energy she had for a healing blast.

***Elsewhere (Last one, I PROMISE)***

Cody sat, flexing his arm. He'd had a nasty gash that That Angel-girl had fixed up for him. Suddenly, a thick, rough pice of cloth was dropped onto his head. He nearly panicked, as he whipped it off of his head, and wheeled around to look at whoever did that to him... And there was his 'Big brother'... "TREY!? How'd you Find me!?" as he jumped up and hugged the larger, and slightly older, young man.

"Ah jes' went where Ah was pointed. Sorry Ah couldn't get here sooner. It was slow movin' trackin' you down." The Texan remarked, clapping the boy on the back. "You've grown up good, boy. Old Joe'd be glad t' see yer alright. Take a closer look at that thing you just tossed on the ground." The Texan remarked, pointing at what he had dropped on Cody's head. Cody looked, and sure enough... It was the Poncho his Grandmother had made for him years ago. Thick enough to stand up to his talons, but light enough to wear year-round. Cody picked it up, and with tear-filled eyes, hugged it to his chest. More than anything else... THIS told him that he was now free. He quickly slipped it on, his face showing instant relief as soon as it was visible again. He looked, and saw the sun finally break over the hillside on the horizin, rosy-orange glow permeating everything. 

Cody smiled, for the first time in two years. "It's a new dawn, Big Brother." Simply, for the first time, GLAD to see the sun. The night was over, and so was his imprisonment.

Trey nodded, setting a black Cowboy hat on his head. "Yep. Fer all of us. Now we all got t' figger out... What do we do now?"

End: Chapter 2

Chapter three is coming soon. I have plenty of ideas for it. And I Promise it will be a much lighter story than the first two chapters. Send all comments/Criticism to mshearon@hotmail.com


	3. A day in the life

X-men: ANB Chapter 3 A day in the Life  
  
Author's Note: Okay, I forgot to say this last time. The Character Cody Brightfeather, physically, is a copy of Raziel, from Eidos and Crystal Dynamics' wonderful Legacy of Kain Series. That is where the similarities end. Cody does not devour souls, he has an entire lower jaw, and he isn't a vampire. I meant to give that clarification last time, but it slipped my mind. Also, no songs mentioned or referenced in my stories are mine. They are the property of their creators/owners. That said, on with the story.  
  
Geneva stood in front of the first of the EMTs to arrive. It was about 7:30 in the morning. She'd been in Alabama for four and a half hours, and since 5, been constantly at work tending to the wounded. She was tired. Exhausted really. But she wasn't going to stop while there was still something she could be doing. She looked up, somewhat shyly, at the man in front of her. "Umm... I've got a lotta certifications... I mean... here..." Geneva, not knowing what to put in all the pouches on her belt, had put her cards and certificates of her first aid training. She even had her lifeguard certification in there. The EMT looked through them, visibly impressed. Geneva, in a rare moment of self-confidence and pride, said, "If I were 18, I could be an EMT tonight!"  
  
With a smile, the man handed her cards back to her, "Sugah, You already WERE." He pointed behind her, at the mutants who seemed to be all bandaged up. "Listen, hon. if you wanna help us out some, still, we ain't gonna stop you. 50 people are a lot to take care of."  
  
"Thanks! The others wouldn't let me go over to the guards... they said it was too dangerous..." Geneva said. She hated seeing so many of them wounded. A couple were holding crudely bandaged stumps from where severed limbs had been. And those rags needed to be replaced. She could tell, even from here. Soon enough, Geneva was at work again. She fought off another yawn, and told herself {You can sleep when this is done. Not that many more to go... We should be done soon...}  
  
Police started to arrive on the scene. The Friends of Humanity may have had a few people on the inside, but something of this nature couldn't be ignored. However, the ones who DIDN'T know about the plantation were horrified by what they saw. They waited until the EMTs finished patching up the guards before taking them away. However, when it came time to deal with the mutants, all were at a loss... Until a large, furry, Well-recognized shape walked up.  
  
"Ladies and Gentlemen... On behalf of the Avengers... may I offer my Assistance? I believe I have friends who will offer these young mutants temporary housing until they can make arrangements to return to their families... For those that applies to."  
  
Soon thereafter... The Press arrived. ***Elsewhere in Alabama***  
  
*Click*  
  
"We interrupt your regularly scheduled program for this important news bulletin."  
  
"Ladies and gentlemen, the images we are about to show you are graphic in nature, and parents with small children should be advised." The picture is then changed to a scene of the central yard of the plantation, where bodies were gathered in lines, after being dug out of the rubble of the buildings. A number of mutants were all gathered in little groups, back-to-back, awaiting information on what was to be done with them. A reporter's voice came over the slowly sweeping view of the field of death, "Last night, in Alabama, a small cell of the 'Friends of Humanity', was discovered to have been keeping a number of Mutants as slaves for a period of 6 years. The slaves made an attempt at Freedom last night, and succeeded. The result is what you see before you."  
  
*Click*  
  
"I was one of their first captives. An uncle of mine had reported my situation to them. He took me from my home in the middle of the night. When I woke up, I was in Alabama. After that, I was forced to find them more workers, and more soldiers." Said a young man with empty-looking eye- sockets. "You see, my Mutancy is super intelligence, by way of 100% retention of everything I see, hear, etc. They put me in a room with many computers, televisions, radios... Anything to give me stimuli. That was how I learned of new Mutants, and soldiers wanting to do more than just protest. When they ran out of power-suppression collars, they started having me find mutants for them to kill. If I disobeyed, the rest of the slaves would be killed, one at a time, until I complied. Given my choices of who would die, I opted for the Mutants I didn't know, over the ones I did. I can personally tell you of 140 cases of dead mutants because of the information I gave them. I don't like that fact on my conscience."  
  
*click*  
  
"That's right, Frank. We're here with Dr. Henry McCoy, More commonly known as 'The Beast', of the Avengers. Dr. McCoy, How did you come to be involved in this?"  
  
"I cannot go into detail, due to security issues, but I can say that I received a bit of information about this individual location. I contacted some... Associates of mine. Currently in their care were the two young people standing... er... Well, the one working on the wounded, and the one laying against that stump over there... Both have proven indispensable on this particular mission. The young man freed all of the slaves, and the young lady, a mutant gifted with the ability to heal minor wounds, has been hard at work since five this morning, tending to the injuries of all that she could approach. As you can see now, she is working on whomever will allow it, among the Former Guards and Soldiers... Oh My!"  
  
What prompted Beast's exclamation was Geneva being tackled by a young man from the Mutant side of things, as the guard she had just been tending to produced a small flask, commonly used to hold whiskey, or some other such Alcoholic beverage, and threw it at her. The young man stayed in a push-up- like position above her, as his clothing began to be eaten away. The flask apparently contained a powerful acid, which seemingly had no effect on the boy's skin. The cameraman rushed over, to get a better shot.  
  
The Microphone clearly picked up the young man telling Geneva to hurry out from under him. She complied, but a bit of the fluid dripped from his back onto her leg as she pushed out. She sat there a moment, then let out a strangled cry, as the Acid began to eat through the mildly protective X-men uniform. Beast was quickly by her side, slicing off he leg of her uniform at the knee. Since her medical kit was nearby (Which was In actuality HIS), he quickly got the Acid-wash out. Apparently, Dr. McCoy was prepared for nearly any situation, as he poured some solution over the affected area, now quite red, and began bandaging it.  
  
The camera quickly panned over to the young man, who rolled onto his back, suddenly surrounded by a cloud of white smoke. He sat up, wincing at some pain. The camera could see, however, that despite a nasty bruise, his skin was quite alright. The guard, meanwhile was now pinned to the ground by a pair of police officers, as they were cuffing him, and searching him for more concealed weaponry. Other guards, still awaiting medical attention, were getting a similar, but less forceful treatment.  
  
The reporter came back into the camera's viewfinder, "Now you see it folks. This kind of cruelty is now being put to an end. We'll bring you more news as we get it. This is Jamie Lawless reporting. Back to you, Frank."  
  
*click*  
  
The man in Birmingham, getting ready for work, put down his remote control, and leaned forward. He rested his elbows on his knees, and folded his hands in front of his face. It wasn't in prayer, it was in thought. "Damn... Maybe That friends of Humanity Rally isn't really where I need to be."  
  
***back on the plantation***  
  
Bruce was still laying asleep against a stump. A particular reporter, who had heard from many of the former slaves that He was largely responsible for their freedom, was standing over him, trying to politely rouse him, in order to gain an interview. He was nudged, prodded, poked, and generally any other way one can think of to wake someone up. However, shouting was relegated to "EXCUSE ME!" because Bruce hadn't given his name to any of the slaves but Tamra. And she, too, was asleep.  
  
Bruce finally rolled over, and with bleary eyes, looked at the reporter, "Whaddayawant? 'm sleepy..."  
  
The reporter quickly regained his professionalism, "Sir... The viewers would like to know, What is the name of the person who apparently single- handedly rescued all these slaves from their captivity."  
  
"'m Spectre" he said. It was a nickname his friend Mark had given him, when Bruce's Mutation was discovered. Bruce had been replaying that particular scenario in his head, as a dream. His choice of names earned him a strange look from the rest of the assembled X-Men, and students.  
  
"So... Specter... How does it feel to know you saved so many lives?" the reporter asked, with a television smile, as he put the Microphone in Bruce's face.  
  
"Good. Now Shadap 'n 'lemme 'lone." The young man rolled over, and started going back to sleep.  
  
"Surely you have more than that to say to the audience... You were a hero tonight, Specter!"  
  
"Shadap'n lemme'lone, I wanna go to sleep..." Said the young platinum blonde in an almost whiney voice. The reporter stuck the mic in Bruce's face again, at which time the reporter's hand visibly passed through it, for all the viewing audience to see. The Camera's Mic picked up, 'We're having technical difficulties... back to you Bill'.  
  
Fairly soon, Geneva and Bruce were on the blackbird, strapped into their seats. Neither one was conscious. Once Geneva had had to sit down, because of the pain in her leg, she was quickly asleep. Joining them in the plane was the entire 'Family', and a few other mutants. The rest were going to be flown to New York, courtesy of the Avengers. Captain America himself as going to meet them at the airport. He was quoted in the news as saying, "I had thought the people of America better than this. From what I've seen, conditions there were almost like a Concentration Camp. I find it deplorable, and think the perpetrators that survived should be punished to the full extent of the law." Beast had stayed behind to help the mutants once they got to the airport.  
  
News crews bombarded the blackbird with questions, but soon scrambled for cover once the gruff voice of Logan told them engines would be starting soon, so they'd best head for cover. Soon, The X-men were heading back to New York.  
  
Bruce and Geneva were carried to their rooms. Both were still asleep. They had both used their powers to the utmost, and beyond. They had been physically active long past their bodies' limits. They were likely to sleep for quite a while after. As the other mutants climbed off the plane, terry supporting both Amy and Tamra, and Jason dressed in a long robe, since all his clothing had been ruined, The Professor met them after they disembarked.  
  
"I would like to welcome you all to Xavier's institute. Here, your gifts will not be exploited. Here you will be treated with the respect that you deserve as people. All of you are welcome to stay for as long as you like, and you are welcome to go back to your families, at any time. Those of you whose... Physical appearance would be considered out of the ordinary will be given a Holographic watch. They will create a mask around your body that will allow you to better blend in. Do not worry about having to pay for any of it. I offer this to you to help you.  
  
"You have been wronged. You all know that, and I know that. However... I hope that you do not blame Humanity as a whole for what happened. There are good humans, and bad humans. There are good Mutants, and bad mutants. Why don't you all find a place to make yourself comfortable. There are rooms prepared for you upstairs, boys' hallways to the left, Girls to the right. If you require any special accommodations, they can be provided for you. Are there Any Questions?"  
  
A young man cautiously spoke up, "Wh-what time do we report for our duties?" It seemed to be a common thought among the assembled refugees. The Professor's smooth, refined voice seemed like more of a genteel captor than their previous one, but in their eyes, all they were going to do for the rest of their life was serve someone.  
  
He smiled, "You won't have any duties to do here. As close as you will come is Schoolwork. Some of you haven't been inside a school building in years. I will be doing what I can to make up for that. But, for now, you can take the next month to recover. When the New Year starts, so will your schooling. Think of this month... as a well-earned vacation. When your schooling starts, your only physical task will be the training I will give you in how to use your powers for something more than labor. Now... Go and rest. I will be coming to visit each of you in time, to get to know you better. But that can wait until another day." The other reason for the delay in new teachers arriving, was that a crisis in England had detained Kitty and Kurt, and they wouldn't be able to come as soon as expected. He smiled, as his chair turned and floated towards the door. Charles sensed the general cowed obedience from most of them. He hoped he could relieve them of that.  
  
***Nighttime***  
  
Geneva found herself sitting in the kitchen Anxiously. Bruce had just been called into the professor's office. It was time for them to be interviewed about their mission the previous night. In the brief time she had known Bruce, she could tell that this was just the kind of thing he would want to do for quite a while. He wanted to make a difference. And So did Geneva. But something like that... She didn't think she could handle it often. On one hand, she had made a lasting difference in many people's lives. On the other hand, She had seen death on a scale last night that had terrified her. Her exhausted sleep had been filled with images of the previous day. Hundreds of bodies. Many burned beyond recognition. Some dismembered completely. She didn't think something like that was ever going to leave her.  
  
Interrupting Geneva's train of thought was Diane. The girl leaned in the doorway, "It's time, Geneva... The professor wants to see us." They walked together, Diane, despite the fact her power kept a nearly constant platform under her feet, preventing her from touching the ground as she walked, still was only nearly the same height as Geneva. "So Genny... What do you think is going to happen now? I mean... Our teachers are the X-men! Does that mean... He wants US to be the next X-men?"  
  
"I don't know, Diane. I really don't. Last night... It changed my life. I'm not sure if it was in a good way or not, yet. My head is still swimming... I can barely hold on to an thought for more than a minute..." Genny paused, when she realized they were now standing in front of the professor's study. Diane was just reaching for the door, when Bruce came right through the door.  
  
The young man's demeanor was changed. His smile was a bit different. It appeared that last changed him as well. "Yo, girls. I'm stayin' around. These can't be the only people out there that need my help..." His hand seemed to subconsciously go to the design freshly applied to his Xavier's school sweatshirt. A large clover, done in magic-marker, over his heart. He looked down at it, realizing what he had done, and a sad smile crossed his face. "Hope you two are stickin' around too. Seeya." And with that, Bruce disappeared through a wall to another room.  
  
Geneva's confusion by his behavior was quickly replaced by her anxiety again, as Diane opened the door successfully. The two were now before the quiet man, sitting in his strange, hovering chair. "Now you've seen something truly horrible. I apologize. I didn't foresee something like this happening. I expected the worst you to se is the condition of the slaves... Not the carnage that you experienced first-hand. Especially you, Geneva. Now is the time I have to ask you both. What do you want to do now?"  
  
Geneva opened her mouth to speak, but was cut off by Diane. "It was HORRIBLE! People DIED! I mean... They were torn apart... I never want to do anything like that AGAIN! I'll stay here, and do the classes, and everything, but I am NOT going out on missions." Geneva looked at the professor, half expecting Anger, disappointment, or SOMETHING. She got a look in the eyes, in return. A calm face, awaiting her answer.  
  
{I have never met someone who scares me more... So much has happened over the last few months that would make him angry... And I've never seen him lose his temper, raise his voice or anything. If he doesn't let some of this out, his HEAD is going to explode...} Out loud, Geneva said softly, with head bowed. "Um... I didn't like it. Any of it. Especially when I saw that person die right in front of me. But... I can't walk away knowing there are people out there who need my help. If... If you ever need me out on a mission... I'll go."  
  
A smile. Geneva could hear it in his voice. "I'm glad to hear it, Geneva. And Diane. Not every student who crosses my doorway becomes an X-Man. I would be a fool to expect it. You're on Christmas Vacation now, both of you. It would be unfair to ask you to keep going to classes, while our new students sleep in as late as they want. You're free to stay, or go home as you wish. I feel it would be better if you spent some time getting to know the people you saved... Help them adjust to their new life. But you're free now. Go rest and relax. Classes will be starting in January."  
  
Geneva didn't need to be told twice.  
  
She was shortly out the door. Diane headed back to her room, and Geneva back to the kitchen. There, she saw the blue-boy from the plantation. He was looking through the refrigerator, gingerly moving things to the side. His talon brushed across a can of soda, which then relieved itself of its contents. Both he and Genny yelped, and both rushed to get something to clean it up. Genny went to the right place first, so she was cleaning it up, by the time she heard a frustrated growl from the young man. She looked up, seeing the reason for his anger. He had been trying to grab a dishtowel, but every time he tried to get a grip on one, his claws went right through it. He finally brought the tatters over, to help soak up the mess.  
  
"Sorry about this... I didn't mean to..." His voice was pleading. He apparently was afraid Geneva was going to get very angry at him for this... {What am I going to do, smack him? Looks more like that would hurt me more than him.} Indeed, his features looked hard, and rough. He was doing his best to clean up the soda, without getting his poncho in it.  
  
Geneva smiled, "Don't worry about it. Really. This kinda stuff happens a lot around here. Bruce accidentally does something like that to cans of pop all the time. You may not remember me... I'm Geneva. Everybody calls me Genny, though." She smiled, to reassure him.  
  
"Cody... Cody Brightfeather... I... I remember you. You patched up my arm." He said, holding up his bandaged limb. He returned to cleaning up the mess... "I wish I still had my gloves..."  
  
Geneva glanced at the can. "Umm, No offense... but I don't follow." She didn't see what difference a pair of gloves would make. The can had been torn open very easily. And she hadn't seen a pair of gloves that would fit his hands.  
  
"Sorry... thinking out loud. Back home, on the reservation, I wore a pair of gloves whenever I had to work on anything. From food, to tools... My claws were too much for anything. So my Grandfather made me a pair of leather gloves that were strong enough to stand up to these." Displaying the bony digits, with their flexible joints.  
  
"Oh... I get it now." Said Genny, as she finished cleaning up the mess. "I'm sure the professor could give you something like that. In the meantime, though, ask for help. If none of your friends are around, I'll be glad to help you... They make a pretty big breakfast every morning, so you don't have to worry about something like this at breakfast. Other meals are usually do it yourself.  
  
"You mean... I get to eat whenever I'm hungry?" The shock in his voice made Genny slightly confused. She had almost forgotten what he had just gone through. He must have been trying to sneak some food. Geneva smiled at him, and continued explaining how things normally were around here. She was gad when she saw realization sink into him that he was indeed free.  
  
Geneva had never thought one of her choices better than when she decided to stay.  
  
***Time Passes***  
  
Amy rolled over. It had been two weeks since her rescue. Now, she lay in a large, comfortable bed, awake, but not so unhappy to be so. It had been drilled into her that sunrise was when you got up. Well the sun was up, and she was awake. But she most definitely wasn't up. She was definitely getting used to this life. A warm bed to sleep in every night? No problem. A hot shower every morning when she DID get up? NO problem! Plenty to eat, that she DIDN'T have to toil and exhaust her powers to bring it out of the ground. No matter if it was the plant's season or not. Bt right now, her mind was on the covers... Warm, comfortable covers.  
  
*Thump-Thump-Thump*  
  
"Amy, wake up... It's time for assignments." Came the half asleep voice of her former stall-mate Terry.  
  
"No!" Amy called, and rolled over again, hoping he'd wake up more, and go away.  
  
"C'mon, Amy... The overseers'll get really mad if you don't..."  
  
That was it. Amy got up and stormed across the room. She was clad in a long T-shirt that showed plenty of her legs... Something she wasn't ashamed of. She thought she had GREAT legs. But that wasn't on her mind right now. She jerked open the door, and shouted as loud as she could to the drowsy, furry mass in front of her, "TERRY! WE ARE IN NEW YORK, NOT ALABAMA. We do NOT have assignments here. I am not going to do this again. I've told you for TWO WEEEKS to stop doing this. Now Go to bed, and don' come back until it's a DECENT hour!"  
  
"Howdy Miss" came a familiar drawl, as a familiar face walked by. It was hard to forget a face with a scar like that running across it. There was the Texan. He had a bad habit of coming to the girl's side to use the bathroom when the boys' side was all occupied. Apparently, that was the situation AGAIN today. Amy quickly gained her composure, and hid herself behind the door a little. True, she wasn't ashamed of her body... Rather proud of it, in fact. But that didn't mean she wanted people staring at It when she wasn't ready. She replied calmly to him, "Hey. Mind scooting off down the Hallway? This is the GIRL'S side, after all. That goes for both of you... Back to bed Terry."  
  
The giant furry mass of muscle dragged himself down the hallway, And the Texan just kept walking. Apparently he hadn't been planning on staying and admiring the view. Amy let the door close, and leaned against it with a sigh. "That's it." She said to herself, setting her chin stubbornly, "I Need to go SHOPPING,"  
  
***Elsewhere***  
  
Geneva stood atop the house. She missed her birds. When she had first started here, there were flocks of doves that lived on top of the mansion. Now, they had sought warmer shelter, than the drafty belfry. Now, she was preparing for her morning exercises. She took a breath, ran a few steps, and Jumped from the side of the roof. She started to fall...  
  
Just at the right moment, her wings snapped open. The rush of wind around her gave her the necessary lift to change course to level out. She used her legs as a rudder, just like Mr. Warren had showed her. She flew briefly around the mansion, enjoying something of the thrill of flight. She'd enjoy it more if for one, it wasn't so darned cold this morning, and for another, if it didn't take so much effort to stay level. Her wing muscles, largely under-used, were beginning to tire. She glided down towards the front lawn, and landed almost gracefully, with a few jarring steps. She let out a sigh, and wiped some of the sweat from her forehead. The sound of someone else breathing alerted her that she was not alone.  
  
She turned quickly, embarrassed that someone had seen her poor landing. There, she saw a group of the mutants from the plantation, about ten in all, standing in the cold morning air, shivering in their Xavier school clothes. She then realized, they were doing what they had done every morning for years at the plantation. Even Cody was there. Geneva's wings folded up quietly, as she cleared her throat softly. As if that was the cue they had been waiting on, they turned, in unison, and stood at attention.  
  
Geneva, surprised by this, almost forgot what she was about to say. She quickly regained her composure, and said, "Um... You don't have anything to do... you can go back to bed if you want... At least go back inside... It's too cold to be out here like this for too long..." indeed, the snow was still on the ground, even though it hadn't snowed for a few days. Some looked confused, but most immediately obeyed. She wasn't sure if they'd taken her advice, or taken it as an order. Cody just shook his head. She clearly heard him muttering as he turned to go to the house.  
  
"When will I finally break free of their hold?"  
  
Geneva hoped it would be soon.  
  
***Around back...***  
  
Tamra stood in the middle of a small clearing, her body surrounded by a crimson glow. She was learning how to control her power better. Being denied the use of it for so long made controlling it difficult. It wasn't using it. It was Holding BACK. Her power tended to rage beyond her control. Now, she was doing the only thing she knew to bring it under control. She was running through her Katas. She was aware of the acrid odor of smoke, from where her feet moved across the dry, dead grass. Her form was flawless, her feet and hands going exactly where she wanted them. It was the accompanying aura that was disobedient. Every punch was an effort to keep a fireball from flying. Her adrenaline was flowing, her senses at their fullest. So when a twig snapped behind her, her reflexes kicked in. She spun around, ready to incinerate whoever dared to sneak up on her.  
  
Seeing Bruce's face was certainly not what she was expecting. There he was giving her the peace sign, with an accompanying, "Yo." For a greeting.  
  
"Bruce? What are you doing here." Her aura beginning to die down, now that she wasn't concentrating on it. It was then she noticed his other hand. It was holding two halves of a stick. It wasn't him stepping on a twig accidentally. He had broken it intentionally to get her attention.  
  
"Saw a red glow over here. Thought somethin' was burnin'." His hands went into his pockets, as he pushed off of the tree he was leaning against, to begin walking towards her. "Turns out it's jus' you."  
  
"She turned away, closing her eyes, and crossing her arms over her chest. "You shouldn't be here. I don't really know how to control this yet. I really could accidentally set you on fire. It's better if I practice alone." She really didn't want to see that smile again. Or hear that laugh of his.  
  
"So what, you wanna be here alone, if something catches on fire?" a chuckle. Close enough. She could feel her aura die down. "I was just seein' what was up over here. But a place like this ain't really where you should practice. I'd be like me practicin' in a room full of computers. Not a good idea."  
  
"So where do you suggest I practice? Antarctica?" her tone was a little more snappish than she wanted. But she really wasn't sure she could trust him yet. True. He was the one who set her free, and saved her life. But aside from that... What kind of guy was he really. She'd only known him 2 weeks.  
  
"Nah... Ain't no need ta go dat far away. But I'm pretty sure tha prof can hook ya up. I mean, he's had just about every kinda mutant you can imagine here... He can prolly give you a place to practice that won't cause a forest fire in his back-yard..." the blonde gestured to he blackened footprints decorating the clearing, along with scorched places on trees, when she'd gotten too close. One was even blasted apart, when a fireball escaped her control. Her aura completely died, as she realized he was right... She was being dangerous to everyone practicing where she was.  
  
Bruce walked away, waving over his shoulder, "I got some boardin' ta do before breakfast. Seeya in tha kitchen, in about thirty." Soon, she heard the clack of his skateboard as it hit the paved path. The grate of wheels on pavement was soon out of earshot. She let out a breath, and started walking towards the house. It was slightly embarrassing, having something like that pointed out to her by someone she learned wasn't the sharpest tool in the shed. But he WAS prone to moments of insight. This must have just been one of them.  
  
Bruce kept skating, until he reached the back porch. There was that Trey guy, with an old, beat-up Dobro across his knee. Bruce let out a whistle of appreciation. "Sweet guitar, dude." Bruce, being the music lover he was, knew of the rich, bluesy twang that the metal disk in the middle of the body produced. Bruce personally loved the sound of a Dobro, played with skill.  
  
The man looked at Bruce through a pair of cheap sunglasses that obscured his eyes. He grinned lopsidedly, as he tuned p another string. "Thanky'. It was a gift from somebody Ah met in Memphis. Helped him with somebody that was givin' him some trouble... Y'know. Strong-arm tactics, tryin' ta git 'im t' close down shop. Ah didn' know too many details. Ah jes' kept th' thugs from messin' up th' place. After a summer o' that, He repaid me with this. Said Ah earned it. Gave me somethin' ta do when Ah put down roots fer th' night." Bruce liked the traveler. The man had great stories of things he'd done. He was the kind of guy urban legends could be made of. The guy who shows up at just the right time. Was he really there? Was he an angel? He'd heard of that kind of thing before.  
  
Tamra slipped by bruce, as he sat and listened to the twang of the strings. Bruce thought he recognized the riff the drifter was playing. A slow melody... Then he put everything together. The platinum blonde grinned widely as he realized what he was hearing. He began singing along, as the now surprised guitarist began playing accompaniment.  
  
"So... So you think you can tell... Heaven from Hell... Blue skies from pain... Can you tell a green field... From a Cold steel rail... a Smile through a veil... Do you think you can Tell?" Bruce's voice took on the Raspyness needed for one of his favorite Pink Floyd Songs, Wish you were here. Trey seemed to be encouraged by the Youth's enthusiasm.  
  
"Did they get you to Trade... Your heroes for ghosts... Hot ashes for trees. Hot air, for a cool breeze. Cold comfort for change... Did you exchange... A walk on part in the War... For a Lead Role in a Cage?" Bruce pointed to himself, then up, signifying that he would take the high part in the next part. Trey complied, singing along, and taking the lead.  
  
"How Ah wish. How I wish you were here. We're just" Bruce joined in right on cue, "Two lost souls swimmin' in a Fish bowl. Year after year. Runnin' over the same old ground... But have we found... The same old fears. Wish you were here..." the two ended in unison, and Bruce started 'scatting' along with the melody that Trey was playing. The two kept this up for quite a few minutes.  
  
In the sitting room, Tamra was standing in the doorway, as far away as she could, and still hear the song. Her eyes were closed, and her head slowly moved in time with the music. She opened her eyes a little, and let out a sigh... "If He doesn't stop doing things like this, I'm going to end up really liking him..."  
  
"Don't get the idea you owe him anything, for him saving your life and all, Tammy." The surprised Tamra turned around to see a grinning Amy behind her. She was dressed in a pair of tight fitting jeans, and her Xavier's school sweatshirt, Much like Tamra herself. She must have been distracted indeed to have someone sneak up on her like that. "I mean, you don't see me falling for Trey out there..."  
  
"It's not that... He's just... Always doing something that surprises me. Just when I think I've got a read on him, he does something like this... I used to love listening to the radio before... it happened. I remember this very song... I loved it. Just something about it made me feel good. And he sings it Just like the guy in the band. He's... got a laugh... A smile... GRR! I always Hated hearing when girls talk like this! I'm NOT one of those ditzy girls who falls for the first cute guy they see!"  
  
"So you think he's cute?" Said Amy with a teasing Grin. This earned her a glare from the flame haired girl. "Relax, Tammy. I'm not going to say anything else, unless you ask me to. You're a Big girl. I'd just try and get to know him better before trying to decide if I like him. Tell you what. Why don't we do something to get our minds off of guys for a while... I already talked to the professor... We're going SHOPPING. With His money. A girl's day out. I need some things that are MINE to wear around here. We're also going to get some Christmas presents. And Chanukah gifts for Terry. I mean, it IS coming up in a couple of weeks..." Tamra was surprised... She'd forgotten completely about Christmas. Holidays in general were pretty much lost to her.  
  
"Yeah. I'd kinda like to get out of here for a while. Move around some more. Somewhere where He's not always in my face..." She took another glance towards the patio, to see the guys getting up from where they'd been sitting, to come towards the kitchen. She quickly headed that way herself. Mostly so Bruce wouldn't know he'd been watched.  
  
Breakfast was as it had been most of the days around here. The collection of 20 young mutants filed through the kitchen, to the breakfast that was set up buffet style. Once the morning had progressed some, The refugees began settling into a normal lifestyle. Some had trouble meeting the eyes of others, but Logan seemed the most understanding of all. No one was quite sure why. He gave the kids their space, to let them get used to the new world they'd been given. Some were already taking lessons from him. The shopping trip was broached to Geneva, who agreed.  
  
After breakfast, the students all broke off into their daily routines. Terry went to the library to study a set of Hebrew texts, provided to him by Dr. McCoy. He was preparing himself for his first Chanukah in six years. His father had been a Rabbi, and had taught Terry much about the traditions and the practices of Chanukah, but it had been some time since he'd even been allowed to look at the Torah.  
  
Cody and Trey went off to the woods together. The two of them were almost inseparable. And, once they disappeared into the forest, Only Logan could find them. They would come back every once In a while with some roots an such they'd found, and cook them over an open fire. They truly seemed like a pair of brothers.  
  
Bruce and Jason were proving to be a fairly tight little pair themselves. Jason was a basketball player, and Bruce wasn't bad himself. Out on the court, the two of them could usually be found playing a game of Horse, or one on one. Bruce was also teaching him to 'ride the stick', and it seemed that skill levels were reversed between them. Bruce would effortlessly execute tricks, while Jason was just getting the hang of jumps and basic tricks. Due to the weather, they couldn't do much. But, on an indoor goal, in the downstairs exercise area, the two of them could keep going for hours. Today, Geneva was downstairs, watching their latest game, when Tamra came down to get her for their shopping trip. She stopped, to watch for a while too.  
  
Bruce came over, "Hey. Either of you two play?" holding the ball out towards them. "I mean, it can't be that much fun a just watch."  
  
Tamra grinned to herself a little, "Oh... I bet I could pick it up quick..." snatching the ball from Bruce's hands. Geneva shyly stepped onto the court, not quite sure about how well she could play, but she was sure two on one wasn't good for Tamra's odds.  
  
"How about Shirts vs. skins?" Bruce suggested. He and Jason were already wearing little, due to the temperature of the room, thanks to the heated pool nearby. It seemed the Natural suggestion to him. The girls agreed, and all seemed about to start, when Jason tapped Bruce on the shoulder.  
  
"Hey dude, let's get our shirts."  
  
Bruce looked at Jason blankly, while Geneva turned red as a beet. Tamra glared at him, and growled, "What did you say?"  
  
The young man smiled, and held up his hands defensively. "It was a joke, Tamra... No offense." It was sincere, but the flickering red glow from Tamra probably had something to do with that. Bruce, still looked confused, as Tamra turned, and walked quickly out of the gym, with Geneva, still blushing, in tow. It wasn't until Jason explained it to Bruce, some time later, that the blonde finally understood what it was all about.  
  
At the mall, the girls were all quickly picking out their outfits. Tamra was fairly at a loss, since she had spent a lot of time in the country, and a third of her life dressed in rags. Amy's taste in clothes tended towards the Miniskirt, and flowing blouses. Geneva was mainly the tour-guide, showing them the best places at the mall. She had come with her own wardrobe, so she didn't need a new one.  
  
It didn't stop her from picking out a few gifts... Especially a shirt for Jason, with a design he would probably love. He word Acid-Burn with Acid in white, fading letters, and Burn outlined in flames. Tamra got a nice shirt for Bruce, following Genny's lead. Everything Tamra had seen him wear was marked in that 'club' design. She figured he'd appreciate something that was a little different.  
  
Amy, on the other hand, was making sure at least SHE had a merry Christmas. She passed a Victoria's Secret, that just happened to have some Swimwear on sale. A moment later, she had a white string Bikini picked out. She was looking at a rather exquisite (and expensive) nightgown, when she heard a firm [No.] in her head. It sounded like the professor, and so she started looking around, to make sure he hadn't tagged along with them. When she didn't see him, she went to pick it up again. [No. The swimsuit I will allow, but that is not appropriate for the school.]  
  
It was then she realized the conversation was in her mind. She had been told he was a powerful telepath... [But... I only plan on sleeping in it... Not going to class in it...]  
  
[However, spending three hundred dollars on an article of clothing simply meant to sleep in is being frivolous with someone else's money. You should be more responsible. When you have your own money, you may spend it as you wish.]  
  
Amy conceded defeat, and picked out something a bit more conservative. The shopping trip went as planned, with some articles bought for the boys (with Terry having some articles being special ordered.) Gifts included a new Prayer Shawl that Amy was going to give him on the first night of Chanukah. The professor didn't disapprove. There was Bruce's Shirt, Jason's shirt, A Dream-catcher for Cody, some guitar strings for Trey, and other items for the other students. All in all, it was a good day for the girls.  
  
***Later***  
  
Bruce answered the door, and let out a surprised, and excited yell. A few heads peeked out, to see the tall youth giving a fierce, back-pounding hug to a shorter young man, with hair much like Bruce's. His clothing was similarly decked with clovers.  
  
"Mark, Man, didn't expect you 'till later! You musta motored straight from school! How ya been, dude?" Bruce said, as he led his friend upstairs.  
  
"Pretty cool man. Salem center High just ain't the same without you. Brad's off all tha teams... natch, with his hand like that... He says you did it. blew up his hand, or something. We all know it's BS... Word from tha underground is he's lookin' for ya. He ain't gonna find you from me..." The dark haired, goateed youth said with a grin.  
  
"Dude, he's the least of my worries now. Trust me." Bruce grinned back. Suddenly through the hallway, walked the statuesque Ororo, on her way to tend to some of the plants in the Greenhouse. "Hi, Ms. Monroe." Bruce said with a smile.  
  
Mark watched the woman leave, and turned back to Bruce, "Who was THAT!?"  
  
"My math teacher." The grin on Bruce's face said he knew why his friend had seemed so interested.  
  
"Dude, no wonder you're doin' so well here... With a teacher like HER, I'd sit up an' pay attention TOO!" the young man kept looking the way she had left, even though she'd disappeared a few minutes before.  
  
"nah... It's mainly because o' Genny... Here she is now. Yo, Genny, 'Sup? Genny, Dis is Mark, Mark, Genny." The girl, wearing a cloak, came over, and smiled a little shyly, but said nothing... She soon went back on her way with a shy wave.  
  
"Man, She's pretty cute too... What I said stands..." with a dirty grin. Bruce shook his head. He hated when Mark was like this. Suddenly, Diane walked by, carrying a large suitcase.  
  
"Seeya in a couple weeks, Bruce... Going to visit my family." She smiled, and continued on, humming a little tune. Mark watched her go as well.  
  
"Dude... You sure there's no way I could go here too?"  
  
"Yeah... It's kinda a place fer mutants... Like me." Bruce's train of thought was distracted, as Amy walked by, in her new bikini, and a little wrap around her waist.  
  
She waved slightly, all her fingers curling slowly in a drumming motion. She smiled a little flirtatiously as she walked past. "Hi boys." Mark's wide-open eyes followed the green beauty as she went along the hallway.  
  
"Dude?"  
  
"Yeah?"  
  
"She was in a Bikini..." Mark managed to get out after a minute of staring at the elevator.  
  
"Yeah, I'm not that dumb..." came Bruce's reply.  
  
"Dude, it's December... And she's in a Bikini! Where is she going in December in a bikini, and can I go too?!" Mark grabbed Bruce's flannel shirt to add emphasis to his words.  
  
"There's an indoor pool downstairs. That's prolly where she's goin'." Bruce said, as he brushed his friend's hands off.  
  
"DUDE! There's GOT to be a way you can get me in here!" Bruce really hated it when mark got like this. The guy was a walking hormone.  
  
Right then, Tamra walked by, wearing a workout outfit, consisting of pants to a karate gi, and a tight-fitting shirt. She gave a little wave, "Hi, Bruce. Seen Cody? He's supposed to be teaching me some techniques today..." Bruce shook his head, and she sighed, continuing her search.  
  
"Dude. what is her name? Aphrodite? Venus?"  
  
"Tamra..." Bruce said, raising a confused eyebrow towards his friend.  
  
"Close enough... DAMN, man what's her number?!"  
  
"Same as mine, just ask for Tamra... But dude, Not a good idea..." Bruce shook his head, his concern that now, his friend's actions might get him more than a slap in the face.  
  
"Why, dude?"  
  
"She's too hot to handle..."  
  
"I'll say..." mark licked his finger, and extended it in the direction Tamra went, letting out a 'Tsss!' sound.  
  
"No, dude, you'll get burned."  
  
"Hey, Neva know 'till ya try!"  
  
"No, she's a Black belt, dude. She could kill you."  
  
"What a way to go..."  
  
"She could set you on Fire..."  
  
"Dude, she already HAS!"  
  
Bruce finally smacked his friend in the back of the head, "Dude, she's a pyro... You piss her off, you could end up toast. Literally." Finally, realization seemed to sink into his friend. And people said BRUCE was the dumb one. "Were you always this much of an idiot?"  
  
"Nah, Came from hangin' out with you." The two grinned at each other. This was part of their normal conversation. "Dude, is everyone here like that?"  
  
"Nah, Not everyone... Hey, Dude, What about Beth?" Hoping this might shake his friend out of his crazed state.  
  
"Which one was that? The blonde? The Green chick?"  
  
"No. Beth. Beth LaRue? Your Girlfriend?"  
  
"Oh... Oh yeah... But Dude, You got it GOOD here... You sure this ain't like Playboy mansion, East Coast?"  
  
As if on Cue, the giant form of Terry came around the corner, reading more of his Hebrew texts... he looked up, and smiled, his tusks shining a bit in the light. "How ya doin', Bruce?"  
  
"Pretty good, Man. What's up, besides you?" the blonde joked, as he had started doing, with one of the few people he'd met that actually towered over him. Terry was eight feet tall, after all. The giant smirked, shaking his head a little.  
  
"Funny, Bruce. Very Funny. I'm laughing, really. Anyway, I've got to get back to studying things... Hope to see you at the Chanukah meals I'm planning." Terry lumbered on his way, reciting the Hebrew phrases in the book.  
  
Mark, who happened to be Jewish himself, just blinked... "Okay.So he doesn't fall under that Category." Bruce just smiled, and continued showing Mark around.  
  
***Later that night***  
  
At the Salem Center Mall, it was the typical Pre-Christmas Craze. People were rushing about getting their shopping done. There were whining children, Frantic mothers, Desperate Dads, Teens not enjoying shopping as much as they normally did, And everything in between. There were, however a handful of individuals who seemed out of place. Twenty men, in heavy black coats began spreading themselves out, covering exits, establishing proper vantage points. Three stood back to back near the center of the building. All waited, still as statues, for some cue... Some command...  
  
"Excuse me, sir... Do you have the time?" asked a middle aged woman, to the nearest of the black-coated men.  
  
The man brought up his arm, as if to check a watch, "Certainly..." A portion of his forearm began to stretch, almost like something was inside wanting to get out. "It's time to die." The Arm tore, and his face contorted, as he let out something of a primal scream. The skin and clothing on his arm began to quickly dissolve, Revealing a dull colored material underneath. The cheeks split, and a similar process began. His companions al began a similar metamorphosis. Where once stood uniform men, in a self absorbed crowd, now stood strange machines, with an oddly skeletal look. Forearm compartments revealed some sort of energy weapon. Shots were fired, some scoring on their targets, some not. The machines let out wailing screams that had no purpose other than to frighten and terrify their human targets. "We are the Sentinels... And now, it is the Humans' turn to be hunted!" Indeed, any mutants in the crowds were allowed to pass through unhindered, as they ran screaming for their lives. Humans, however, were kept pinned down.  
  
***Back at the Mansion***  
  
"{X-Men: Alert! A new type of Sentinel has been sighted, attacking the patrons in Salem Center Mall. Heavy injuries expected. Form a team of all who are willing, and move out!}" Came the Professor's mental command into the Student body at large. The only ones who seemed willing to do something, though, were Logan, Storm, Bruce, Geneva, Trey, Cody, Terry, Tamra and Jason. Surprisingly, though, it was Bruce who spoke up first.  
  
"Okay, we need our fastest to get in, and wipe 'em out quick. Sorry Terry... Yer a walkin' target. Pretty hard to miss. So that leaves us with Tamra, Cody, Jason, Trey, an' Me. All of us but Cody can hit 'em from a distance, an' from what I've seen of 'im, his speed makes up for it. Terry, you come along ta act as backup, an' to guard Genny. We're gonna need her after this is all done. Ms. Monroe, Mr. Logan, got any objections ta what I said?"  
  
Again, all eyes were on Bruce, and all jaws were nearly on the floor. Trey was the first to comment, "Sounds good 'nuf t' me. Let's stop Gawkin', an' git rollin'! Them folks ain't getting' no healthier!" Shortly, all were down, getting prepped for their first mission. Logan and storm agreed, silently, between each other, that they'd only help the students where they needed it... But this was to be their first test. Especially for the former slaves.  
  
They all piled into the Blackbird, which Warren had been prepping since the mental Communiqué had been issued. He wasn't going, since his walk still required a cane. As soon as everyone was on board, the plane was out of the hangar, and blasting through the night. Bruce Felt Strange hopping in a jet, to travel a handful of miles... But when he realized they were there in a matter of seconds, instead of minutes, He appreciated the speed. They looked down through the skylight, once outside the plane.  
  
"Jeez. Either those things can't aim, or they're just. tryin' ta SCARE tha folks." Again, shocked expressions turned to Bruce, as they realized he as right. Machines that were designed with scare tactics WAS a chilling thought. Indeed, it appeared there were only cases of incapacitating wounding, instead of outright killing. "Okay, folks... How do We get in? I can open up a hole, but I can't let ya down any slower. Who's breakin' tha fall?"  
  
"That'd be me." Said Trey, who looked decidedly uncomfortable in his X-men uniform. "You kin go down in pairs. Ah kin support that much with mah... Telekinesis..." the word sounded uncomfortable coming out of his mouth. The Texan closed his eyes, as a wide ripple appeared in the air in front of him. Bruce thought that was the coolest part about Trey's power... It warped light.  
  
Bruce did his part, and made the portion of the roof became intangible. Jason got on first. "Jump off as soon as ya feel comfortable doin' so. Bru- Spectre an' Ah'll be goin' last... Cause we're yer ticket in. Wraith, an' Flare, Yer next." The Drifter remembered the codenames they'd all chosen on the blackbird. It was a way to further ensure anonymity. Jason, under the codename 'Acid', jumped off about 6 feet from the upper level, and powered up his acidic field. One of the machines fell before it even processed it was being attacked. Wraith and Flare both jumped off at higher distances. Each rolled to a stop, in a guard position of their respective fighting styles. Specter and Drifter came last.  
  
Specter looked at his small group, and said simply, "Spread out, an' take 'em down. Last thing... Come back breathin'." The group moved out, each moving towards the closest attacking machine they could.  
  
Cody's savage fighting style and energy blade turned out to be just as effective against whatever armor the robots had as it had been against wood and flesh. A pair of machines advancing slowly on a pair of young ladies fell quickly, sliced neatly through the chest area. Cody's finishing slashes made sure the machines weren't capable of prone fighting. He dispelled the blade and moved on, leaving the ladies struck into silence.  
  
Tamra was an all-too obvious force against them. The Sentinels weren't program oriented enough to ignore a blatant threat to their mission. They were soon searching, converging on the offending Mutants, Which were called 'Traitors' in their chilling voices. However, every machine that showed it's face to Tamra soon found itself blasted out of existence. Five Fell to her in short order.  
  
'Acid' was making a good name for himself among their ranks. His excellent eyesight, Precise aim, and impressive range made him good for sniping the units on the lower floors. However, pushing his power like that was leaving him feeling very drained. He had just put a hand beside his head, to stop the world from spinning, when he hear d a sound it didn't take him long to identify. The click of the Robot's feet on the floor, and the 'shuck' sound as its blaster slid out of its arm. Jason opened his eyes long enough to spot it, and quickly put it out of commission. This brought his tally up to 5.  
  
Trey's Force bursts were proving less than effective against the durable hides of the attackers. The young man was doing all he could to knock the two advancers back from a small crowd of Children, still cowering and Crying beside a bleeding Saint Nick. Trey's Telekinetic force did prove useful as a shield, warping and diffusing most of the blasts enough to only make them uncomfortably hot.  
  
It's strange what one thinks in moments of high stress. Trey found himself thinking of how similar these things looked to Cody. Spindly waist, Skeletal appearance, Thick pair of fingers... Everything... It was almost like the popular definition of Horrible that Cody defines was used as a model for these things. However, the constant blasts caused him to shake off that train of thought, in favor of self defense.  
  
The pair seemed to be favoring a stable position, and bombarding their target with nearly constant blaster fire. Unknown to Trey, Storm was preparing to lightning-bolt the machines into oblivion, in favor of defending her student... When she saw him stick a hand out from beside his hiding place, and a flicker of distortion travel in a bit of an arc at the Sentinel on the left. It impacted with one of the arms, causing it to swing directly at its compatriot, too late for it to power down the blaster. A blast sounded, as the right-side sentinel was beheaded by friendly fire. Another distortion hit the machine in the middle of the forehead, causing its head to snap back. In that brief moment, as the machine reoriented on its target, Trey Rushed forward, a bit of steel flashing as he brought a large knife to bear. A straight stab punctures the exterior, which Trey then puts his hand over, while a force bubble obscures the sight of the Sentinel. Suddenly, The machine is torn apart from the inside out, as Trey formed a bubble inside it. The Texan was covered in a heavy amount of some highly viscous goo. He tapped his communication device, contacting the rest of the team.  
  
"Drifter here. Ever'body still breathing out there?" He waited a moment for a response. The teachers also waited anxiously.  
  
"[Flare here. These things are no trouble. I've got five.]" came Tamra's voice over the communicator channel.  
  
"[Wraith, reporting in. I've been hit, but it's not bad. I took out 4 before it happened. I saw Acid take out the one that shot me. I've taken cover. Out.]" Cody's voice was a little strained, but that was to be expected with an injury.  
  
"[Acid here. I've tagged 5. My beams are a bit weak now... Cant get 'em with any kind of range. But by my count, that makes 'em down to 6...]" Jason sounded a bit dizzy. He'd probably been pushing himself too hard. But he had made the greatest dent in the robots numbers.  
  
"[Make that 4. Okay, Now, we just need to hear from Spectre, an' ever'thin'll be cool. Anybody got a heads up on 'im?]" There was a bit of Silence over the frequency, until Cody sounded out.  
  
"[I see him. He's in the food court... Looks like he found the cutlery store... He's got a Samurai sword, and is using it on the Sentinels. Looks pretty effective, too. I see two down, but the other's got him hard pressed. Moving to Assist. Wraith out.]  
  
Cody was quite right. Bruce had found a katana at a Knife/blade store. He'd actually found three. He discovered that there didn't seem to be much metal in the robots. The one sword he'd found that was a true blade, instead of a showpiece, Clove through them easily, skinning them down to their bone-like structures. This seemed to have a very detrimental effect on their blasters. Unfortunately That didn't do much to limit their movement. Bruce had managed to decapitate two, but The final two Were keeping pace with his moves. Cody stood back, looking for an opportunity, but the motion was too fast. He couldn't see a place to attack, without putting Bruce at risk. The others arrived on the scene, and were quite surprised... Even Logan was surprised.  
  
Bruce's sword moves weren't anything special. It was his reflexes, speed, and flexibility, now being put to the test, That surprised them. The robots moved almost in tandem, but Bruce managed to avoid most of their blows, despite being able to only attack one at a time. His swing took one of the robots arm off at the elbow, having caught it right in the joint. As it recovered, and computed new strategies, Bruce rolled underneath it, and slid the point of his blade up into its neck. It twisted and lurched, jerking the blade out of Bruce's hand. Now weaponless, he had other options for avoidance. A swing by the Sentinel with two arms went over his head, as he bent back, limbo style. He planted his hands to the floor, and twisted back, bringing his feet up to kick the handle of the sword buried in the other's neck. This took it down to the ground, damaged beyond function.  
  
Bruce kept dodging attacks as best he could, since his blows seemed to have no effect on the thing in front of him. His evasion brought him too close to the body of one of the other sentinels. The hand lashed out to grab at his ankle. Bruce was effectively tripped, coming down to the ground hard. He opened his eyes, to see a foot coming down towards his head. His reaction was instinctive, his power lashing out. The foot stopped in midair, as the sentinel tumbled to the ground. It twisted, and jerked, as the phasing had its normal effect on machines. Bruce was quickly on his feet again, and, as realization dawned, that these were susceptible to his power, grinned like a wildman, and lashed out. Shortly, all the machine remnants were completely deactivated, courtesy of Bruce's phasing powers.  
  
Tamra was the first to go up to him. "Bruce! Are you alright?" looking over the places where his uniform was already torn, and bruises were showing.  
  
"Yah... Flare... I'm good. I just wish I'd tried that first. I think I missed the first one... So I didn't try again. But they were on me too quick to think. So I grabbed the swords, ta have soemthin' that might do some damage. But Let's head out... I don't think The police are gonna like us here too much." A general nod came from the rest of the assembled students. Bruce tapped his comlink. "Change of plans, Genny. Looks like we're pulling out. I know ya ain't gonna like it, But There's stacks of Ambulances outside, and a ton'a cops. 'Sides, Wraith needs some help. We're comin' up."  
  
"[Roger... I guess. I just don't like leaving without doing anything...]" Came Geneva's voice over their communicators. She sounded disappointed.  
  
"I know how ya feel, Genny. But This ain't like the Plantation... Most people here have only minor wounds... It's a priority thing. Besides, Get ready to patch up Wraith's side. Specter, over and out." He looked around, "Okay, Wraith, get ready, we're goin' up first. I've got ta open the hole, an' that can't be done from a distance." Everyone nodded, and left like they came in, through the roof. Soon, they were in the air, with Geneva working on Cody's side.  
  
Tamra looked over at Bruce with a new respect. But she was surprised to see him looking so deep in thought. She heard their instructors at the front of the plane praising the new team on their efficiency, and teamwork. Then she Saw Bruce walking up to the front.  
  
"Yo, Professor, X... We gotta talk when we get in. I don' wanna do it now. I'd rather you hear it before everybody else." There was a note of concern, and anxiety in his voice. Tamra heard the Professor agree to Bruce's request. She wondered what exactly he was so worried about. She looked around, seeing the general looks of satisfaction on the faces of the rest of the team... That's what she thought of them. A team. And people she could trust.  
  
***Later, in Xavier's Office***  
  
"This ain't tha last time we're gonna see these things."  
  
The professor nodded sagely, "You're probably right, Specter. So how do you and your X-Men plan to deal with them?" Bruce looked rather surprised b these words.  
  
"What? MY X-men? I got two problems there... One... I just grabbed tha folks who could deal with those things from a distance... And it almost got Cody Killed. Two... We ain't X-Men yet. That ain't a name we earned." He paused, to think about the professor's question. "I guess... We'll just do things like we did this time. Hit 'em hard an' fast. But there's somethin' I think you should look at... We brought one back with us, so you folks could take a look at it."  
  
The professor began guiding his hover-chair towards the lab where Hank was analyzing the deactivated robot. "So what about them surprised you the most, Bruce?"  
  
He thought a second. "Their tactics. They could have killed 'em just as easily as shootin' up the surroundings. Somethin' tells me that they were just herdin' everybody into one place, so they could start mowin' 'em down one atta time. No one was wounded to where they couldn't move, unless they were in the center of the mall. Second... Prolly that they were made outta some kinda plastic. That sword I was usin' cut through it pretty easy. But, They must have a lotta liquid in 'em... That screws my powers."  
  
"I see." Said the professor, who continued guiding the hover-chair down the hallway. "You told the others that you must have missed. Why do you think differently now?"  
  
"I think that way 'cause after I cut 'em they bled. this strange goop all over the ground. After they'd all been wrecked a bit... An' then they could be phased. I put it together on tha way back. What's really weird. The stuff didn't catch on fire when a spark from tha sword hit it... Nothin'. So that stuff couldn't have been fuel. We saw those things use jets to jump from one level to another..." The door to the lab opened, and the two entered, Bruce continued his thought. "But they wasn't big enough to hold much fuel... So... My thoughts... An' this is just a guess... Those things weren't meant to come back."  
  
"I'm afraid I must agree with our new fearless leader." Came the comment from a rather serious-faced Beast. He was hanging from the ceiling to inspect a portion of the machine. "Due to the damage done to it, I cannot make many concrete rulings. However, their fuel is not sufficient to carry their body weight over long distances. But these are remarkable machines, professor. The plastics used are a type I have never seen before. It's extremely durable, but also flexible. Their bodies contain very little metal. I doubt they would set off a metal detector... They contain a fluid that would not only mask the signal from the metals, but is also highly conductive. I believe it's a form of Liquid circuitry... A way to convey information and power with a drastic reduction in the use of metals, boards, wires, et cetera... My theory is that the metal components I DID find are only backups. I would like a chance to study one of these intact... But I can understand how something like that could be rather difficult."  
  
"And the fact that these are targeting Humans?" Asked the professor, looking over some notes Beast had scribbled out.  
  
"I would deduce that we have a Mutant extremist on our hands. Perhaps someone like the now absent Mr. Anderson. Someone with genious like his, and access to the right materials could construct these. I'm not accusing him, nor am I insinuating that I feel he is responsible... quite the opposite, actually. Even if I thought him capable of an act such as this, he hasn't had the time necessary to complete machinery of this nature. I am merely stating a Hypothesis." Beast righted himself. "So what we have is a plastic machine, with high firepower, and terrorist tactics. We also seem to have a team in need of some more serious training. And perhaps some equipment more suited to their own personal tactics."  
  
"I agree. What do you think, Bruce?" The professor turned to regard his new student... and his mouth fell open.  
  
"Zzzzz..." snored Bruce... He had fallen asleep leaning against the wall.  
  
***Elsewhere***  
  
Terry paced back and forth, anxiously. It was awful, what he'd seen. Machines were attacking people, but with the purpose of scaring them. "I don't believe this... How can this be happening? I thought everything was supposed to be better now... No more things like this!" To settle his nerves, he began doing all he'd ever known to do in these situations. He prayed... "Baruch atah Adonai..." The rest settled down into unintelligibility, as he sat down, folding his hands over his face.  
  
Amy wondered why he'd gone in the first place. She knew how he felt about fighting. If he'd wanted to, he could have fought back against his captors at the plantation at any time... He could have done some serious damage, without his powers. So, instead of trying to say anything to make him feel better... Because she couldn't think of anything... She just gave him a hug around the neck, and scratched his headfur.  
  
"It looks... Like things aren't as good as we thought they'd be." Came his rumbling voice, as he patted Amy very lightly on the back. She still struggled to remain standing after the impact.  
  
"Maybe not... But I saw something different, when you went out with them. I saw Tamra. She went to defend humans. Do you know how easy it would be for any of us to have become just the kind of threat the general populace thinks we are? You could tear down buildings single-handedly... Tamra could blow them up... Cody could hack through a crowd... Jason could decimate any of the above... I'm not much of a threat, I don't think... But still... I want to HELP. YOU want to help. We can make things BETTER, instead of worse. And I'm glad you're a pacifist. You'll find a way. I know it." She smiled at him, and patted his cheek. "Get some rest, hon. You've got some more stuff to get ready for Chanukah, don't you?" She left him alone in the boys' side hallway, to go down to the Kitchen.  
  
That's where she saw something strange. She saw Trey walk by, heading towards the sitting room, still in the spandex-like uniform of the X-men... He was pulling off the shirt portion, and walking towards the patio door. Now, Amy wasn't the type to butt into other people's affairs, but seeing someone walking outside into twenty-degree weather was something she couldn't ignore. She followed, seeing him standing there in skin-tight pants, and no shirt... He was rubbing lightly at a dark portion on his side. It was then she noticed the plethora of bruises on his upper body, and the minor cuts scattered over the legs of his uniform. There were also what appeared to be minor burns on his skin. "Looks like you got pretty beat-up out there, Tex." She walked out, hugging herself to ward off the cold. How he could stand there like that was beyond her.  
  
The pair of empty eyes turned to look at her. After a second, He smirked, and sat on the railing, "Yeah... Th' worst Ah've evah faced Up 'till now was Guns... Never gone up against blasters... An' Ah ain't lookin' for'ard to a rematch. An' standin' out here's easier than lookin' fer an awl-ovah- Ice-pack." He flexed a little, to stretch some soreness out of a muscle. Amy couldn't say she would complain about it. "So what're you doin' outsahd on a frigid night like this... Ah'll spare mah Ego, an' bet it ain't th' company."  
  
"Actually, it Kinda is... I was wondering just how big an idiot you were, until I got a good look at you. There anything I can do for you?" She moved around to a slightly more sheltered area, mainly to get out of the wind.  
  
"You got some paher ovah plants, right? Could you git me some Aloe? These burns may not be serious, but that sure would help." He said, popping his shades on.  
  
Amy shook her head, "Don't have any around. I've got to have SOMEthing to grow it from. Now, if Roses were what you needed, I could have plenty in a few minutes... For some reason I can just call those up whenever I want... Anything else, I need a seed. I could go find you a first aid kit... Maybe help you wrap some bandages..." A sudden shake of his head made her very curious... "What? Opposed to Modern medicine?"  
  
He shook his head again... "Nope... It's mah other power... If anybody touches mah skin, Ah kin read their mind... An' they kin read mahn. Ah cain't really control it. Ah... Did somethin' purty bad with it once... An' Ah don' want that t' happen again." He looked away... "If you kin fahnd one, bring th' first-aid kit... Ah kin take care of it... Thank you..."  
  
Amy could tell by his body language... Slumped shoulders, averted eyes, the look on his face. Everything said that there was a deep hurt there. It probably wasn't something he could open up about yet, if ever. "I'm gonna take a guess here... It's got something to do with why you spent so much time on the road." He nodded, but it was barely perceptible. She left it at that, as she went in to find the first-aid kit.  
  
Trey sat out there, feeling the wind biting into his skin. It was cold... probably as cold as he had ever felt it. The aching places on his body were numbed... He tried his best not to think about that day... Did everything he could not to think about it. Moments like that one stick in the mind. A moment perfectly preserved, where every sight, sound, smell, touch and taste are forever burned into the memory. It was hard not to replay it, every time he saw the scar on his face.  
  
***Nine years ago...***  
  
"C'mere an' see Uncle Bob, Mark!" came the slightly inebriated voice of Trey's uncle. Trey didn't exactly want to comply. Over the last week, his eyes had been changing... They'd gone from a brilliant, bright blue to a dark black... And now, even the whites of his eyes were going. He had opted on wearing a pair of sunglasses to hide it. His parents didn't know... His little brother didn't know. He'd managed to keep his eyes down, since he'd seen that it wasn't getting any better.  
  
"C'mon, boy. Ah ain't seen you in months." His uncle kept motioning him over. He couldn't put it off without raising suspicions. He came over and hugged his uncle.  
  
"Uncle Bob, you know Ah don' lahk bein' called Mark... Ever'body calls me Trey..." The twelve year old put some distance between himself and his uncle. The man was proudly wearing a patch on his arm depicting the letters FoH. Trey had been suspecting lately that he just might be a mutant, himself... Not something he was proud of.  
  
"Ah, yer Daddy was jes' tryin' t' make hisself sound more edjicated by sayin' all that stuff about that Latin... What's with them shades, boy, y' got a black eye, 'r somethin'? It's cloudy out, today. Take 'em things off!" making a quick grab that Trey couldn't dodge. That's when 'Uncle Bob' Saw Trey's eyes. In the Next moment, Trey found himself slammed against the wall. The view in front of his face clouded over with stars, from the impact. The next thing he felt was a sharp pain on his forehead. When his vision cleared, he saw the knife coming down towards his left eye.  
  
"Boy, if you weren't family, this knife'd be in your neck... But instead, Ah'm jes' gonna cut them Demon Ahs from Yo' head." He could smell the beer on his uncle's breath, He could feel the knife biting down his forehead. He started batting at the large arm holding him in place. He could hardly breathe. He was more scared than he'd ever been in his life. He remembers his hand disorting, as it knocked the knife hand away. Unfortunately, the hand was going down too hard to stop. The point went across his face, tearing the skin in two places. He could feel the blood pouring down his face. He could taste it getting into his mouth. He could see the knife in two pieces on the ground, when he wasn't holding the gash on his face.  
  
Then, he felt himself lifted off the ground by the neck. He choked, and coughed, kicking futilely in the air, trying to scream. He heard his mother trying to stop her brother from hurting him any more... Then he heard the sound of his mother getting punched by Bob's free hand. That's when his instincts took over. A resounding 'NO!' echoed through his entire mind. It also tore into his Uncle's mind, along with every fear, every anger in Trey's mind. Trey saw the Hatred boiling in Bob, The screaming fear in him to get rid of the Mutant before it hurts him... Trey felt the dizzying effects of the alcohol... Everything. All of it was dumped Back into Bob.  
  
Trey was suddenly dropped. He coughed, as air painfully rushed through his bruised throat into his lungs. Through the sting of the blood in his eyes, he saw Bob rolling on the ground, clutching his head. He screamed until he was out of breath, and then just started sobbing. Trey didn't pause to see any more. He ran into the house, grabbed a backpack he had packed for a boy- scout trip, and Ran.  
  
He paused under an old evergreen. Something of a Landmark, since trees were somewhat rare in this portion of Texas. He'd stopped there, to put a bandage over his gash. He was on the edge of his parents farm, but he couldn't move any farther. His shirt was covered, his face was covered, and the ground up to here had an easily followable track of blood. He'd probably lost quite a bit. Now, he was trying to cover the gash in such a way that he didn't obstruct his vision. Not that where he went, or which way made much difference. He just had to get away. He didn't want his family to deal with a mutant Son.  
  
***Present***  
  
"TREY! Hel-LO!" Came Amy's voice, shocking him back to reality. Helping it was a whack on the shoulder. Trey was scared that she had seen something, until he realized that he didn't feel any connection. He looked down, and saw that she was wearing a pair of kid-leather gloves. He looked up, wiping the beginnings of tears from his eyes. "Do you always space out like that when you're alone? I went and got my gloves, So now, you can't bitch about me trying to help you. Now get your bruised ass inside where it's warm." The smirking grin on her face cheered him up a little.  
  
"Thank you... but really... Ah kin take care of it mahself. Ah spent 7 years on th' road... Ah'm used t' takin' care of mahself." He tried to protest, but she was already pulling him into the mansion, and he was indeed running out of reasons to object. So he complied, and allowed Amy to help him out with his bandages.  
  
***Upstairs***  
  
Geneva stood outside Cody's room, knocking on the door. She had a fresh bunch of medical supplies, to change the wrapping on Cody's side. She'd been knocking for over a minute, with no answer. She knew he needed to have his bandages changed, whether he was asleep or not. She'd only had time to do a hasty wrap to staunch the bleeding before. She finally sighed, and tried the doorknob. It wasn't locked. She peeked in, quietly, in case he was asleep. The room was dark, but she saw the bed was still made, untouched. She looked around, and saw the balcony door open. She stepped in, feeling the cold air, saying that the door had been open for a while. She peeked out, seeing him sitting on the railing facing outward. He was curled up like a Gargoyle, his poncho blowing in a stiff wind. Genny immediately rushed to the doorway, "CODY! What are you doing out there?! Trying to fall? Come inside here! I can't do Anything about broken bones!" Her voice sounded more squeaky than stern.  
  
The young man turned around, blinking... "Sorry, Geneva. It's something Trey told me helped with pain... And the wind has always helped me think." He climbed down, and came back into the room.  
  
"It must have been pretty important, to get you to stand out there when it's that cold... C'mon, I've got to get that bandage changed. Sit down, and take off your poncho." Her tone softened, as she got her power ready for a healing blast. Cody obliged, wincing a little, as he had to lift his arm over his head. She removed the bandage, seeing that the bleeding had indeed stopped. That didn't make it look any less painful. She put her hand over the wound, releasing her healing power into him. His face relaxed visibly.  
  
He kept his arm at a ninety degree angle to his body, smiling a little. "We have to stop meeting like this, Geneva. Seems like half the times we've gotten to talk, it's been while you're checking my bandages." He tilted his head towards the fading mark where he had been wounded at the plantation.  
  
Geneva chuckled, "Well, If you'd learn how to Duck." They both laughed a little, as she tended to what was left of his wound. "But seriously, What were you thinking so hard about? I was knocking for almost a full minute..."  
  
"It was... the look on those girls faces... When I slashed those two robots... They didn't look relieved... It looked more like they didn't know which to be more afraid of... The robots, or me." The boy seemed to go introspective again, as he looked at one of his talons. "What an interesting pair we make..."  
  
"What do you mean?" Geneva tilted her head, rather confused.  
  
"I mean... Here you are... beneficial ability... and, forgive me but, Angelic looks." This earned him an eyeroll, and a bit of a glare from Geneva, as she got back to work on his side. "And then there's me." He straightened out his arm, "A Mutation that's nothing but harmful..." as his blade sprung to life from his first claw, "And demonic looks." He made a false grimace, showing his fangs, as his eyes began glowing. "Somehow, we don't really look like we belong in the same room." His tone had gone from thoughtful, to something akin to self-hatred.  
  
"Don't talk like that, Cody. You're a person. Not a demon. And I am Definitely not an Angel." She wrinkled her nose cutely. "And please don't say 'Mutant'... I hate that word."  
  
"Um... Genny... That's what we are. Mutants." He dispelled the blade, and put his arm down as she finished working on his side.  
  
She shook her head, "No. We're people. Calling someone a 'Mutant' to me has the same feel as calling a black person a 'Nigger'. It just feels wrong. When you called yourself a mutant, you said it like it was something Dirty. And Neither one of us are anything Dirty." She stood up, smiling at him, "Now, Come downstairs, and get something to eat. A blast will only do so much." Cody finally relented, with a half smile. Geneva was one of the few people who could cheer him up. The two went down to get something to eat.  
  
***Elsewhere***  
  
Tamra walked from the kitchen, holding her hands behind her head. She'd thought about working off her excess adrenaline by heading outside, but seeing Amy helping Trey ruled that out. She didn't really want to see anyone right now. A cup of coffee hadn't stopped her shaking, and she was doing everything in her power to stop her power from lashing out. She needed some way to calm down. She then decided to head upstairs. She saw Terry sitting in the hallway on the boy's side, and heard Cody and Geneva talking. The click of pool balls colliding was heard from the lounge... Probably Jason, practicing his form... How could he be so CALM after tonight?! She continued on towards her room.  
  
"Tamra... I was wondering if I could talk to you..." It was Mrs. Summers. Tamra turned around, so she wouldn't see the shaking of her hands. Tamra really didn't need this right now. She just wanted to be left alone, to meditate, or just send a blast of fire out the window.  
  
"Umm... What about?" Tamra said. Her hands went down to her sides. She had to move. Had to do something. She shifted her weight from one foot to another, so her shaking wouldn't be so obvious.  
  
"Tonight. I can see it's gotten you worked up." Tamra cursed herself for being so easy to read. "You don't do this as long as I have without learning a few things. C'mon. Let's go into your room to talk. Redhead to redhead." Tamra sighed, and gave in. She went in, followed by Jean.  
  
"So what do you want to know?" Tamra said, as she walked over to her balcony door. It was time for her to test the limits of her new home. She HAD to vent this energy somehow. Se opened the door, and stepped out to the icy balcony. Her power sprung to life as soon as she was out. Within a second, her balcony was clear of Ice.  
  
"How did it feel, being out there, and fighting to save people? Using your power to help those who needed it?" Jean stood near the door, watching her. The fire-red aura swirled and coalesced around Tamra's outstretched hand. He scream that tore itself from Tamra's lungs reminded Jean greatly of her former teammate Sean Cassidy. A crimson beam flew from Tamra's hand out into the air above the forest near the lake. A safe distance away from the house, it detonated, turning the snow-covered ground an orange-red.  
  
"They called me a Traitor..." Tamra said, as she recovered from her flare.  
  
"Excuse me?"  
  
"The robots... called me... a traitor. I decimated any who came near me... But the people were still afraid. I heard someone say 'Stay away from her! She might burn you too!' I was trying to SAVE them! And they were afraid of me!" She said, knocking a fist against the railing. "Why do people have to be such Asses?"  
  
"Because they fear what they don't understand. They don't understand how a person can have the type of power that we have. So... Why didn't you burn them?"  
  
THIS caught Tamra off guard. She turned around, "What?! I'm no monster! I'm NOT going to make them RIGHT about me!" her indignation was easy to see.  
  
"Exactly right. You and Bruce are very similar." Jean smiled as Tamra blushed and looked away. "He was told by everyone but his mother, and a few friends, that Mutants are bad. They're dangerous. Then he becomes a Mutant, and is excited. Because he now had a way to help people."  
  
"I was told the same thing. I believed it too. Now, I've seen better people in Mutants than I have in Fla-... Humans. But I don't hate people. I really don't." She looked like she was mentally criticizing herself for almost using the epithet. "I just... I don't know. I just don't know who I can trust, yet..."  
  
Jean smiled, "I'm glad you trusted me enough to say that... Why don't you get some sleep... we'll talk more later." Jean got up, and walked to the door. Tamra stayed looking out onto the balcony for some time. Jean made her way to her own room, imagining that things were going to get very interesting here very soon.  
  
Within a few days, Terry had successfully started his Chanukah plans, and everyone participated. Gifts were exchanged. Everything Bruce got was quickly marked with a clover... much to Tamra's dismay, when he opened up the shirt she got him. Cody was given another poncho, that Trey had also carried with him all this time. The food was all Kosher, surprisingly, prepared by Terry himself. The Eight nights sped by with all of them having pushed the mall experience out of the front of their minds. At the end of it all, the professor informed them that new teachers would be arriving soon, and lessons would be starting as soon as they did. He claimed that the attack at the mall had caused something of a change in plans.  
  
Bruce was sitting in his room, staring out the window again. Snow... Snow on the ground and he wasn't cold. He was in a warm house, learning all sorts of new things, and meeting the most interesting people he could imagine. He really couldn't complain about anything. The changes in his life over the past month was beyond anything he could have ever dreamed of. He stood up, and went to the window, muttering, "Merry Christmas, Pops... Wherever, an' whoever ya are." A little tradition of his. He layed down on the bed, for a change, and stared at the ceiling, as he let his thoughts run through his head. Things were gonna get pretty interesting down the road... But he was looking forward to it.  
  
***End, Chapter Three***  
  
This may be the end of this segment, but don't think this story is over, friends. I still have an entire year of activities residing in this Cranium. Who made the new Sentinels? What will life be like with the new teachers? And will the former-slaves be ready for the rigors of. a Normal High school? Find out all this and more in the next chapter of X-Men: A New Beginning! 


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